The Wedding Planner
by Andromeda Writes
Summary: She's the wedding planner, but at least he's not the groom. AU
1. Chapter 01: Unwanted

**Disclaimer**: What a disaster it would be if I had any rights to The Lunar Chronicles or its characters.

* * *

><p>The portscreen built into the right corner of her desk binged. She accepted the call with a tap of a cloth-gloved finger.<p>

"Their Imperial Majesties, Prince Regent Hikaru and Prince Kai, are here for their first appointment, Cinder."

She rubbed her fingers across her brow, standing up, "Send them in. Thank you, Iko."

The door of her office _whoosh_ed open and they stepped in, accompanied by Iko, whose eyes were wide as she backed out of the office. Kai was wearing an old, faded grey sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, while Hikaru was dressed in a pair of slacks, a cream silk button-up, and a tie. They were complete opposites.

Cinder leaned into a deep bow, "Your Highness, it is an honor to be asked to plan your wedding to Her Majesty, Queen Levana of Luna." She turned to Kai, "It's a pleasure to be in your presence as well, Prince Kai."

"I hear you're the best in the entire Commonwealth," Hikaru replied, bowing back to her. "You're quite… young. How old are you?"

Cinder straightened from her bow and gave him a cautious look, a sly grin on her lips. "Nineteen. It's uncommon for someone to be so young and good at what they do, I know, but I-I'm pretty uncommon."

"I can see that," Hikaru muttered.

Kai cut in, "It's a pleasure, Miss Linh."

She gestured for them to sit down and took her seat once again, "As far as being the best in the Commonwealth goes, I can't promise that that's the truth, but I will do my best."

Kai smiled, his ears shading pink. Cinder pretended not to notice.

Hikaru cleared his throat, "You can trust that this isn't exactly what I want."

"I think everyone in the Earthen Union knows that, Your Highness. What a shame you could not have been born one minute after Prince Kai, rather than one minute before." Kai sniggered from beside his brother. Cinder grinned, glad he hadn't taken offense to her offhand comment, but quickly regained composure. "Also, I'd like to offer the both of you my condolences for your father. His passing was a true tragedy." She dropped her eyes to the table.

"Thank you," Hikaru replied solemnly.

Cinder ejected the netscreen from her desk and began to type away on it, "Let's get started, then, yeah? Obviously, we'll be going with the traditional red and gold silk robes embroidered with traditional kanji and pictogrpahs of the Commonwealth." At the Prince Regent's simple nod, she moved on. "Are there any particular world leaders you would like to not be invited? I'm aware that it would be rude not to invite someone important, but I have to ask."

"The entire court of Luna, including Levana herself," Hikaru said, sitting back against the chair, his arms crossed over his chest.

Cinder exhaled a small laugh, "Unfortunately, I cannot fulfill that request. I can fulfill any request that doesn't involve basically calling the wedding off completely." She rested her forearms on her desk, wringing her hands together. "I know… I know this is the worst thing that's probably ever happened to you. Queen Levana is… quite difficult to please."

"Aren't they all?" Hikaru mumbled.

Kai dragged his fingers through his hair, patting his brother on the shoulder with a free hand. "Gah, _Lunars._"

Hikaru leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his stark eyes piercing hers. It struck her how much he resembled his late mother. Brown hair, golden eyes, rounder features – whereas his own twin had inherited his father's black hair, caramel-brown eyes, and his sharp jaw-line. The former's voice was also an entire octave deeper. "Invite everyone important, I don't care. Whatever will cause the least amount of drama. Stars above know I could use as little stress as possible on what will be worst day of my life."

"The least amount of drama. I can do that." Cinder's eyes fell to her lap, unsure of what else to say. "As far as the wedding in general goes, I-I-there's nothing I can do about it, Your Highness. I'm sorry, but I...I'm only the planner."

Hikaru rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm not really in the mood for this. I'm sorry. I'm going to head back to the hover. Thank you for your time, Miss Linh. I'm sure that we'll meet again, unfortunately." He stood and started to head to the door.

Cinder jumped to her feet. "You can-," she called to his back, though the door slid shut behind him, "-call me Cinder."

Kai flushed, sighing. "I'm sorry about him."

"You've nothing to apologize for," she told him, sitting back in her plush office chair and tapping the netscreen so that it would return to the desk. "She dug her claws in before the Emperor's body was even cold." She pressed her lips, "I know this is a tough time for you. I will help in any way I can, but I am pretty limited in my abilities."

"May I call you Cinder?" She nodded and his smile almost reached his eyes, "Do you have a family, Cinder?"

She wrapped her arms around herself, "I have Iko."

"An android?"

A shrug. A tremble of her lips. "My stepsister, Peony, died the day before the antidote was announced." An unsteady hand went to her heart. Her eyes dropped away from him; she was suddenly more interested in the mahogany of her work desk. "I cut ties with my stepmother and stepsister the day I turned 18. Never looked back. So yes, I have an android."

"I'm sorry." His voice was suddenly softer, sadder. "Three weeks ago. The day after my father died. Impeccable timing, as it always is."

"Long live the Emperor." Cinder set about fixing her hair, pulling it down and readjusting the hair tie in it. There was a short, awkward period of silence before Cinder looked back up at him, "Why did you ask?"

Kai lifted a shoulder, "I just needed to know if you can understand anything we're going through. I suppose that answer's yes."

"I suppose." Cinder rose to her feet, "We're already behind, but I think we can make it work. We'll start on this again tomorrow, when His Highness is hopefully feeling better."

Kai frowned as she approached him, "Again, I'm sorry about him. It's been… difficult."

"I know," Cinder said, her voice small. She led him to the door and gave him another bow before he left.

She latched the door and then pressed her forehead into the frame. The next two weeks were sure going to test her patience. It wasn't Hikaru's fault, she knew. And the pay would be good! She could start saving up again! However, between Prince Hikaru's noncooperation and Prince Kai just _looking _at her with that lovely and perpetual smile on his face…, she was sure she would lose her head.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Mmmmm. My first multi-chapter fic that I've actually wanted to write for a long time! (Uncharted doesn't count. Uncharted is its own demon.) So, some real quick things: This is an AU and, to limit the amount of things I have to deal with in this story, Glamour is not a thing and while Letumosis is a thing, it's just a very advanced bacterial infection in this fic. Also, if you didn't catch it, Hikaru is an OC and Kai's fraternal twin who was born 1 minute before him, thus making him 1st in line for the throne.

Um. I feel like I had more to add, but that's it so far. I've got the first four chapters all written up, but don't expect regular updates. School starts back in two days so you know how that goes! I have this entire story planned out, though, so it shouldn't be too bad.

edit: I was lazy and did not do proper research on the Commonwealth's background re: traditions, and was corrected and made the needed changes

PS: It gets better. I'm referring to the following chapters, but you can take that however you need it.

PPS: This fic is dedicated to the lovely lovelunarchron! :)


	2. Chapter 02: Best Intentions

**Disclaimer**: The Lunar Chronicles is not, fortunately and unfortunately, mine. That's a good thing.  
><strong>Side Note<strong>: Shout out to lovelunarchron, who came up with the title and to whom I'm dedicating this fic! ;)

* * *

><p>The crimson drapes covering his windows had long lost their luster, the sun having faded them to a dull red. Now the sun's rays were covering the plush, beige carpet, illuminating the corners of his bedroom.<p>

Kai dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to give himself enough reasons to get out of bed so early. They had breakfast and then a meeting with the pretty wedding planner at 08:00 sharp.

Stars, she's _pretty_. He let out a long, low groan. Things were too serious right now. He had no time for frivolous flings. Besides, he was a prince. He wouldn't ruin the life of a civilian with any sort of relationship. If the press so much as caught wind of anything, even if there were other people around and they were discussing something as boring as the shape of the wedding cake, she wouldn't be left alone for at least a year. And any time he entered another serious relationship, they'd eat her alive.

He threw his legs over the side of his bed and cradled his head in his arms. He shouldn't be entertaining the idea, especially not with hypotheticals. She was a normal girl. He would be nothing more than an unwanted interruption.

But she was pretty, and he decided that that was the only thought he'd entertain. It was probably the only thing he'd been sure about since his father's death, so it was nice to have something to hold onto.

Kai let out a lengthy yawn and set about getting ready for the day. Intentionally or unintentionally, he'd used his favorite cologne and wore his favorite shirt with his favorite light jacket and actually brushed his hair down. Intentionally or unintentionally.

He walked into the breakfast room and took a seat across from his brother.

Hikaru leaned over, a crooked smirk on his lips, "Someone got all dressed up for our meeting today."

Kai lifted an eyebrow, "What? No, this is just – I dress like this every other day."

"You think she's cute, don't you?"

He cleared his throat as an android set the plate of food before him. "Who's cute?"

"Cinder. You know, the wedding planner? You might not have caught on to her name while you were too busy admiring her _presence_."

"Don't be ridiculous," he told him, shaking his head. "I'm not stupid, Hikaru. I know better than that."

His brother sat back, laughing. "Yeah, all right. So why is it you've suddenly decided to retire the sweatshirt for the day?"

"It's hot outside," he replied through his teeth, stabbing at his breakfast with his chopsticks.

"It was hot yesterday." Hikaru quirked an eyebrow, "So, why the jacket?"

Kai finally shoved a bite into his mouth, his eyes falling to the floral centerpiece at the table. His brother continued to laugh, but he didn't look at him.

"Stars, imagine you taking a _civilian _to the royal wedding. Think of all the press! I can see it now. 'Prince goes after nameless wedding planner.' And the gossip columns! 'She's pregnant', 'she's Lunar', 'she's a _cyborg'_. People eat those tabloids up, you know."

Kai stiffened, "Father annulled the CPA three years ago. Even if the stigma remains, her being a cyborg wouldn't be relevant."

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "You and your love for half-robots. Either way, the press would eat her alive."

"I told you. I don't think she's cute and I know better than that."

"Mmmm, but you do think she's cute."

Kai's eyes flickered to him. "That's also irrelevant."

Kai almost hated his brother. Hikaru could always read him, no matter how hard Kai tried to hide his feelings and thoughts. His mother said it was twin telepathy. His father said it was Hikaru being observant. Hikaru just said Kai was too obvious about everything. That was probably true. Of course, he couldn't hate his brother. Hikaru was always there for him. Even when their father died and Queen Levana swooped in for the kill, to forge a marriage alliance with the Commonwealth – which meant marrying Hikaru, who was at least fifteen years her junior – he was there for Kai. They still mourned their father together. Hikaru didn't even often bring up how he felt about his predicament.

One whole minute. Sixty seconds. That's all it would've taken for Kai to be in Hikaru's place.

He couldn't imagine what his brother was going through. So, no, he didn't hate him. He never would.

* * *

><p>Cinder pulled up various types of floral centerpieces on the netscreens behind her desk. "Queen Levana specifically requested orchids, but said she would settle for lilies if they're what you would prefer. I pulled up three different types of orchids on the screens and I need you, Hikaru, to tell me which you like best."<p>

She was wearing a really nice purple cotton shirt with a black blazer over top of it and black jeans. Even with her hair in a messy pony tail, Kai couldn't take his eyes off of her. Which was bad. So, very, very bad.

"Does it matter?" Hikaru muttered.

Cinder scratched the back of her head, "Uh, well, kind of, yeah. It's all about what you and the bride want-"

"I don't want _any _of this!" He snapped. "You know what I want? I want this whole thing called off." He stood up, "I need a drink," and then stormed out.

Maybe he brought up how he felt about his predicament now and then.

Kai massaged his temples, "I'm sorry he's being so difficult."

Cinder sent away the photos and glared at Kai, "Will you ever teach your brother to stop running from his problems?"

"You couldn't possibly understand what he's going through."

She deflated and sat in her office chair, shutting her eyes, "I'm sorry, you're right."

Kai wet his lips, "Do you-is it okay if I make the decisions instead?" He'd almost asked if she just wanted to make all of the decisions, but that would've meant that he would've seen her again only by chance encounters and on the wedding day. He couldn't have that.

"If you're willing to attend all the meetings and actually be here mentally, then yes. I'm sure your brother will be more than thrilled to pass the planning off to you."

He smirked, "Unfortunately, it means you're stuck with me almost every day for the next week, at least."

Cinder returned his smile, "Now, I don't see anything unfortunate about that, Y-Your Highness."

"Just Kai. You can call me Kai."

* * *

><p>"<em>Oh! My! Stars<em>!" Iko squealed, jumping up and down. Cinder could already feel a headache coming on. "You and Prince Kai! Working together, alone, for a whole week! Every day!"

Cinder reclined across the couch, her gaze trained on the patterned ceiling of her small apartment. "Iko, you're being ridiculous. Like always."

"He could fall in love with you!" She continued. "You could be a _princess_, Cinder!"

She tilted her head to look at the android, "And why would he fall in love with me?"

Iko tapped her chin, "Because you're going to look extra cute during that entire time! And you have the purest intentions of any 19-year-old girl in the presence of _Prince Kai_! How could he not?"

Android reasoning could be so simplistic. Cinder pulled her thin black cotton gloves off and ran her human hand through her scraggly hair, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not stupid, Iko. I know better than that. But, stars, he was so handsome today. You saw him all dressed up, right? I'm sure it was because he had other royal things to attend to afterwards, but I honestly just wanted to _die_."

Iko screeched, "You're so in love!"

"I don't think that's what I'd call it."

"Well, we can still dress you up tomorrow! Just for fun."

"And what would be pure about those intentions, Iko?" She asked, wrapping the hair tie around her wrist, her mousy hair fanning under her.

The android tittered, plopping down cross-legged on the floor in front of the couch, "Absolutely nothing, of course."

Cinder dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. The light of the setting sun infiltrated the pulled blinds, casting shadows on the plush beige carpet. She swallowed hard, hoping her feelings had gone down too.

She hated herself. Because of course she would gladly take Iko's fashion advice for the next week or so. Because of course her own intentions were impure.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: So! Not sure how long this fic will end up being, though probably not super long. I don't know. I've always been a really concise person and there's never enough development and whine whine whine (thank the stars I'm not going into writing for a living, right?). Anyway! Um. I hope you're liking it so far? And if not, I'm sorry?

Also! Forgot to mention it last chapter - eventually, the rest of our lovely characters will make their appearances. :)

ALSO. I'm sorry for talking so much this A/N, but I know I mentioned that I've written these ahead of time (I'm posting this because I've either finished chapter 6 or am half finished with it, which was my goal before posting), but I'm doing that so that if life gets hectic or if I'm stuck with a horrible case of writer's block (I have been writing almost nonstop since mid-November so I'm waiting for it :/), you still get relatively regular updates! See, everyone wins.


	3. Chapter 03: Infatuation

**Disclaimer**: If the Lunar Chronicles were mine, I would not be wasting my time writing fanfiction, would I? Exactly.

* * *

><p>Cinder paced the length of the area in front of the netscreen wall of her office. "The music is probably the second hardest part of this, behind picking the food. Pleasing the guests is never an easy feat and, in a situation like this one – you know, where half the guests hate the other half – it'll be even more difficult than usual. That's why deciding on the best orchestra is key in making this go smoothly." She tapped one screen and it began to play an orchestral performance of a wedding march.<p>

Kai didn't really hear her explanations for the different orchestras and their interpretations of each specific march. He was struck by her intelligence, how even her anxious stutter seemed only to accentuate the extent of her knowledge. Paired with her melodic voice, he could probably listen to her read from a phone book every day for the rest of his life and be the happiest man alive.

But he wouldn't entertain the thought. He swore he wouldn't.

"Are you listening to me?" Cinder stopped the music and planted her hands on her hips, impatiently tapping one of her pinkies. "Kai?"

His eyes focused again. He sat up a little straighter, "Uh, sorry. I liked the second one."

"'The second one'?" She asked incredulously. "We agreed that when you're here, you're completely here. That's the only thing keeping Prince Hikaru from being in the chair next to you."

His fingers slid through his hair, "Ah, sorry. I got distracted."

"By what?" She fumed, frustrated.

"You," he replied.

Cinder opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the words, but all she managed was, "S-s-so-sorry?"

Kai's ears were completely red, and the blush was spreading to his face. "I, I just- you're very smart, Cinder. You're so intelligent. I got carried away listening to you just talk about these orchestras like you've been studying them your entire life."

"Oh." Her voice was small and she habitually tugged at the hem of her left glove. Her gloves were white today, matched to her cerulean silk blouse and white slacks. "I suppose I should say thank you, then." Her smile was shy, "Thank you, Kai. I, uh, I have an extensive knowledge of many things."

"I can tell."

If Cinder could blush, she would've had to leave the room until she could get a hold of herself. "Anyway, so the 'second one' is one of the most popular orchestras from Central America. They're very well known for their more erratic music style." She went on, going into the price – though the budget was virtually limitless, where they would be seated in the celebration hall, and what songs they'd perform for the reception.

It was an hour and a half before they'd finally made all of the decisions. As soon as Cinder typed out all of the plans and saved it, she whistled. "Well, now. One of the many hard parts is over."

"One down, too many to go," Kai mumbled.

Cinder started tapping away on her netscreen again, "Let's get to work on food. It'll take quite a bit of time, because there's plenty to go over and a lot of choices to be made. Picking a good caterer is vital. And then we'll be finished for today. Tomorrow, our meeting will be at 13:00. We have a cake testing and will be deciding on the other desserts. But for today, just the hors-d'oeuvres, appetizers, and main courses. Shall we begin?"

"Might as well."

* * *

><p>Kai threw his suit jacket on his bed and sank down next to it, cradling his head in his hands. He was definitely developing feelings for Cinder, though they'd only just met the morning before. How serious those feelings were, he didn't know.<p>

He'd never really been much into dating. If any of the girls who fawned over him ever held legitimate feelings for him, he wasn't sure. He could confirm, though, that at least 99.3% of them didn't. There wasn't exactly a way for him to find a girl who actually cared like he would need her to.

Hikaru had dated before. He had no problems with the girls that only liked him because of his looks or his title. Dating was something for him to do, someone to talk to, even if they didn't care past the publicity and the bragging rights.

They were always given options to date random young, single celebrities from around the world, but Kai found most of them impeccably boring. They either only cared about their work or only cared about themselves.

Basically, Kai had a lot of bad luck with dating and he had no clue how things could work out with Cinder, if anything ever happened between them.

Who was he kidding, anyway? She had no reason to have interest in him. If she ever did, it would be because of his title. She didn't seem like that kind of person, but he learned long ago to never be surprised by anyone.

He heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he called, sitting up.

Torin pushed the door open and stepped in. "Your Highness, you missed the meeting with Queen Camilla. She isn't pleased."

Kai stood up and retrieved his jacket from the bed, sliding it on. "Hikaru went, right?" Torin nodded once. "Then she shouldn't be angry. I was with the wedding planner, doing Hikaru's dirty work."

"I understand it's hard for the both of you, but you can't keep missing meetings. It looks bad."

"I'm not the one who's going to become Emperor in two weeks."

Torin let out an irritated sigh, "Your Highness-"

"I'll comm her this afternoon to apologize. What excuse did you give her?"

"You were busy."

Kai nodded, "Okay, good. The truth, then." Then, he thought of Cinder. She was the reason he hadn't made it to the meeting, anyway (aside from the fact that he simply forgot, that is). He couldn't stop the small smile that played loudly at the corners of his lips.

Torin entered the room fully and shut the door behind him, "Is there something wrong?"

"No, not at all."

"You met someone." He crossed his arms, "I know you don't want to believe it, Your Highness, but you are terrible at masking your feelings."

"It's complicated," he replied.

Torin quirked an eyebrow, "And how so?"

Kai sighed. Torin had been his father's royal adviser since before Kai and Hikaru were born, and he knew he could trust the man. Besides, it's not like Hikaru was exactly… supportive when it came to matters of the heart. "Her name's Linh Cinder."

"The wedding planner."

"Yeah," Kai reddened and dropped his gaze to the floor. "She's… interesting, I guess. Very intelligent and very pretty. She rambles a lot and talks with her hands." He chuckled, "And she stutters when she's nervous. It's really cute."

Torin gave him a rare smile, "It's not often you express such interest in a girl."

"I don't know what to do."

"You're still young. If you think it'll work, go for it. And don't forget to comm Queen Camilla later. I'll let her know you'll be contacting her." He disappeared into the corridor and Kai gaped at the door that he'd left ajar.

Konn Torin had given him advice, and it had been all about Kai doing something for himself. He was usually a man of honor, of doing things for others only, but he had given Kai advice that-that his father would've given him.

The realization dawned on him and he stepped back, sitting again on the bed.

His father would have wanted him to be happy. He would have wanted him to pursue the bubbling warmth that existed within him whenever he thought of Cinder.

As he decided that he would consider doing just that, a new emotion cooled his heart.

Terror.

* * *

><p>Cinder spun toward her wall of netscreens nervously, her hands trembling. She folded them in her lap.<p>

"Accept comm."

Queen Levana popped up on the biggest netscreen on the wall, a mischievous smile on her face. She was wearing her auburn hair straight and the reddest lipstick Cinder had ever seen. "Good afternoon, Miss Linh. I'm sure you know that I've called to check up on the preparations for my wedding?"

Cinder stood from her chair and bowed, "Of course. They are going well, Your Majesty. Today, we made decisions on the orchestra that will be used as well as their musical numbers, and then on the hors-d'oeuvres, appetizers, and main courses. Would you like me to run them by you?"

The Lunar queen shook her head and her voice was pure honey, "No, I trust you are doing a fine job. Tell me, how is my fiancé looking these days?"

Cinder's stomach churned at the way she spoke of him – like he was no more than a commoner. Cinder forced a smile, "Healthy and happy, Your Majesty. He seems very eager about the wedding."

"Oh, now. Don't lie to me, Miss Linh. I am not so naïve." Cinder's smile faltered ever so slightly. Levana tittered, "Though as long as he is healthy, that's all that matters. I do look forward to being your Queen."

"I also look forward to it," Cinder bowed again, hoping the queen did not catch her second lie. "We are doing a cake tasting tomorrow as well as deciding on the desserts. Do you have any preferences, Your Majesty?"

The Lunar queen tapped her chin thoughtfully, though Cinder assumed she wasn't doing much thinking at all, her perfectly pointed, red-painted fingernail turning Cinder's stomach with how dangerous it looked. "No, I do not believe so. Earthen chocolate is quite divine, though, so do keep that in mind for me and my guests."

Cinder nodded, "Of course, I will write that down so I will not forget."

"Please do." Levana smiled again, "I have other things to attend to now, Miss Linh. I will call again tomorrow evening for updates."

The screen blackened and Cinder fell back into her chair, staring blankly at the wall. Talking to Queen Levana had always drained her, no matter how short the interactions were. She always seemed to be keeping a sinister secret, like she was up to something that would surely ruin a lot of things. Cinder never could pinpoint why she got that feeling.

The port on her desk binged and she spun her chair around, accepting the comm.

"What is it, Iko?" She asked, exhaustion evident in her tone.

"Your next appointment is here, Cinder!"

"Oh, right." Composing herself, Cinder stood up once again. "Send them in."

* * *

><p>Cinder plopped down on the couch as soon as she got back to her apartment, kicking off the heels she'd worn. She never wore heels, but they went well with her slacks. Or so that was her excuse, but her feet were absolutely killing her.<p>

Iko sat on the living chair and commanded the netscreen on the wall to turn on. Then, she turned toward Cinder. "Did you see that suit he wore today? He is positively _gorgeous_!"

"Don't remind me," Cinder grumbled, burying her face in her palms. "I'm so glad that he can't tell that I've been dressing up more, too. I would be completely embarrassed."

Iko stitched her artificial eyebrows together in confusion, "I don't compute."

"I've made a decision. He can't know I like him."

"I don't compute."

Cinder dropped her hands and stared at the android, "For one, I couldn't handle the rejection. The embarrassment from that alone would be enough to shut down my brain immediately. For two, there's no way anything would ever happen between us. He's a prince and I'm a wedding planner, Iko. No one would ever think that I was in it for love. And anyway, he'll probably end up like Prince Hikaru. Roped into an arranged marriage with a distant political figure where there's no love." The very thought made her heart ache, but she buried the emotion in the back of her mind. "Though as long as she's not half as evil as Levana, I think it'll be okay."

Iko cocked her head to the side, "Or he could fall in love with you and you could become a princess!"

"That's it. I'm cutting off your power supply," she threatened.

"Come on, Cinder! You have to admit that that would be really cool!"

Cinder shook her head, "It would be absurd, is what it would be."

Kai would never fall in love with her, especially not if he knew the truth of her status. Emperor Rikan had annulled the Cyborg Protection Act two days after her 16th birthday, but there was still a lot of discrimination against cyborgs. It's why no one knew. It's why she always wore gloves and boots and pants. Dating a prince wasn't a possibility. In fact, she wouldn't be the only person opposed to such a thing. A cyborg and a prince? It would be too offensive. Not worth the risk.

She would, however, enjoy her time with him anyway.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Ah, a bit more plot development this time around! This is, clearly, going to go just a bit deeper than Kai and Cinder's relationship. How deep? I suppose you'll have to see. I already know, because chapter 8 is well in the works. Anyway! Yeah, uh, enjoy! And for the record: I love reviews more than I love myself (and that's a lot) (but no pressure or anything) (I can survive without them).


	4. Chapter 04: Plans

**Disclaimer**: I have zero rights to the Lunar Chronicles. I wouldn't be writing this if I did.

* * *

><p>The silver walls of her office gleamed with a false glare from an unseen light source, the white curtains billowing in an artificial breeze. She regarded her royal netscreen with critical eyes. The Earthen wedding planner had sent her what had been finalized so far for her second wedding. The plans were less than acceptable, but she would have to approve of them anyway.<p>

Levana didn't like Linh Cinder at all, and hadn't from the moment she saw her. The girl looked too much like her late sister, Channary, and no one had hated Channary quite like Levana. Grimacing, the Lunar queen sent away the plans and pulled up another, more confidential document.

She read over each bullet point carefully, her red lips screwing up into a sinister smile.

The ornate doors of her office swished open as she read the last line and her head thaumaturge entered. "Your Majesty, I am sorry for this interruption. I trust that you have seen the plans that I had Sir Clay send over?"

"Ah, Sybil. I've just finished going over them. They are brilliant, if I do say so myself."

Sybil forced back a pleased grin. "That is the highest praise, Your Majesty."

"Have you found out any new developments?" Levana rose from her desk and floated to the floor-to-ceiling walls of her office and looked out at Artemisia, the capitol city of Luna spreading before her.

The thaumaturge straightened from her kneel, "The Prince Regent has stopped attending the meetings with the planner. Prince Kai is helping to make the decisions. It's unclear what Prince Hikaru is up to now, though he is still attending meetings with world leaders. He doesn't seem to be planning anything, so I believe that it's safe to say he is not yet a flight risk."

Levana hummed, pursing her lips. "Make sure to keep tabs on him, won't you? He may not be a flight risk now, but I've no doubts he will at least try to become one." She turned from the window, hands folded demurely in front of her, "However, there is always another prince to fall back on. Let's hope he's not so senseless."

"Yes, my Queen." Sybil turned and exited the office once again, the doors closing gently after her.

Levana returned to her desk and pulled the plans and blueprints back up again, pressing a button so they would display on the large netscreen that she triggered to lift from the floor in front of her desk. She leaned over, resting her chin atop her intertwined fingers.

The smile was there again. She hadn't felt so triumphant since she got rid of her dreadful sister and took her rightful place as the Queen of Luna. In two weeks, she would have everything she'd ever wanted. Unlimited power, unlimited resources.

Oh, it warmed her stone cold heart so.

* * *

><p>The royal hover agitated Cinder's nerves. She wrung her hands in her lap and stared at the ground, doing her best not to look at Kai. They were headed directly to the chosen bakery to decide on the cake before going back to her office to figure out the rest of the desserts. Due to misinformation and a mistake at the bakery, they were to do it there rather than in Cinder's office. They were being accompanied by royal guards in a different area of the hover, blocked off from them, and Cinder almost wished that they were sitting with them instead.<p>

"Is it going to be awkward this entire time?" Cinder snapped her head up to look at him as he sat back against the seat.

Cinder wet her lips, her eyes flickering from his for the briefest moment, "I wasn't aware it was awkward."

Kai blinked, "Oh."

She pressed her lips, trying to find a way to disperse some of the tension, "Do you know what I did before I became a wedding planner, Kai?"

"What?"

She dropped her gaze to the carpeted flooring, "I was a licensed mechanic. I worked for my stepmother and she kept all of the profit. I worked all the time and never received anything for it. Not long after I turned 16, I realized it would finally be legal for me to leave when I turned 18, and I did. I packed up my things and I left. It was hard for a while."

He tried to listen, but he was caught on that one word – legal. Of course it would've been legal for her to leave when she reached 18 and was no longer considered a minor. The way she worded it, however, made it seem like that was not an option at one point. A strange feeling in his gut told him that something was off about Cinder. It didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, it was just… different. He couldn't put his finger on it, though.

"And I-I'm good at this. I was great at being a mechanic, but I prefer this so much more. I don't even know why, it just feels… more right. Cleaner. I didn't have to be so dirty anymore. My third official wedding was for two idols from Japan. They loved my independent style and how much they thought I already knew about the things they enjoyed and wanted in their wedding. They were the reason I could afford the fancy office and the netscreen wall and that really cool desk that I still can't get over."

"A mechanic? You were a mechanic, and now you're a wedding planner?" He asked, curiosity heavy in his eyes.

She exhaled a laugh, "I know it sounds ridiculous. They're on completely different ends of the spectrum, right?"

"I'll say."

Cinder shrugged, "I was 17 when I realized that it's what I was going to do once I got away from my stepmother. I was sitting in my booth at the market working on an android when I glanced up at the netscreen across the way. There was some broadcast about a wedding happening in Canada with these two celebrities and I realized that I kind of liked the idea of what it took to make a wedding happen." Kai quirked an eyebrow and leaned over, interested. "I started looking in to it and what it took and I decided that I could really be good at it. And, like I said, it was a far cry from mechanic work. I think that's mostly what drew me to it. My first clients were regulars at my booth. Two years later, here I am."

"Here you are." He smiled, "You really made something of yourself, didn't you?"

"I was just really lucky."

"You deserve it, you know."

She raised an eyebrow, "Thanks for the validation, Your _Highness_."

He chuckled, "Sorry. That came out wrong."

Cinder scrunched her shoulders up, "I know what you meant."

The following silence _was_ awkward, and Cinder thought she might drown in it. Kai was sure he already had.

She set her head back against the head rest, "I used to dream of being important, you know? Of being a lost princess, or something stupid like that, who would revolutionize the world." She turned her gaze to the world outside of the window. "It's silly, I know. But I used to dream that I would save everyone from everything. Levana, Letumosis, everything. When Peony died, I stopped having those dreams. Mostly, it's just nightmares now." The corners of her mouth turned downward, deepened. "I guess I've just always wanted to feel like my life was worth something."

Kai squinted at her, wondering why she was telling him this, why she was so _open_, though not unhappy that she was, "You don't have to be a heroine to be worth something, Cinder."

She cringed at his kind words as the hover began to slow. She shouldn't have said anything to him, she knew. Couldn't figure out why she had in the first place. He didn't care. Not at all. She sighed, forcing her voice up half an octave. "Enough about me. We're here, so I suppose we should get back to work!"

He watched her as she pushed open the door, stepping out into the light of the afternoon sun.

She was hiding something, and Kai couldn't help but be curious about what.

* * *

><p>"Any new developments?" The scrambled voice of the shadow asked.<p>

Hikaru rubbed the back of his neck, pacing his office nervously, "No, everything's still ready to go. Right on schedule."

"Are you sure about this, Your Highness?" The shadow asked again.

"It's all I've got right now," the prince regent replied. "You're all set on your side, correct?"

"Affirmative. And of your brother? Is he suspicious?"

The prince dragged his fingers through his hair, "I don't think so."

* * *

><p>Kai's eyes glazed over as he slumped back in the chair, his hands carressing his stomach, "If I eat any more sweets, I think I might throw up."<p>

"Me too," Cinder groaned. "I think we've got everything we want the caterers to bring, though." She tapped her comm button, "Iko, I need you… to come take this food away… before one of us gets sick from looking at it."

The android burst into the room before Cinder even finished her request. She looked between the both of them, "You guys look like hell." She glanced sideways at Kai, "My apologies, Your Highness."

He gave a noncommittal wave of his hand.

Cinder was collapsed over her desk and Kai was whimpering about his stomach in the chair across from her. "It was all just… so good. We couldn't decide what we liked more, so we had third servings of everything. Between that _and _the cake tasting, it's safe to say we didn't make any good choices today."

Iko grabbed the hovering cart full of different dessert trays. "You guys are so lucky," she grumbled, pushing it through the door of Cinder's office. "Please don't get sick. I don't feel like cleaning up after either of you!" She paused and stuck her head back in, "Uh, except maybe after you, Your Highness."

The door shut behind her and Kai laughed painfully. "I think she's a little jealous."

Cinder dragged herself off of her desk, propping up on her forearms, "Androids don't know what jealousy is, but I'm sure I'll be hearing about it later regardless."

"Iko has quite the personality chip."

"Right?" She laughed, though it rocked her stomach a little too much. "I don't have another appointment for an hour, but you should probably head back to the palace. Though, honestly, the thought of moving kind of makes me sick."

"Oh, me too." Kai let out another groan, "I do have to go, though. The guards are waiting for me." Bracing himself on the arms of the chair, he pulled himself to standing.

Cinder did the same, her legs wobbling and stomach queasy. "I cannot believe we ate all of that. How did it happen?"

"We got distracted," he smirked. It was true. They were taste testing the different desserts the catering company had sent over and ended up deep in conversations about, of all things, life on other planets.

Cinder walked with him to the door and he turned to face her. She planted her hands on her hips, "Tomorrow at 08:00, right?"

"Tomorrow at 08:00."

Rather than turning to leave, Kai lingered, the smallest smile quirking the corners of his lips. The silence was deafening.

Then, he leaned forward and kissed her.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Y'know, I didn't really like this chapter! Next chapter is much better, if I recall correctly. We'll see. Fairest is coming out tomorrow! Isn't it so exciting?! I'm excited. I unfortunately have work right after my classes, but I'll be skimping on my homework to read it on Wednesday, don't worry...

Okay anyway. I kind of only just finished writing chapter 8. I told myself I would finish chapter 9 before I posted another on here, but I've been Doing Other Things (homework, playing Sims, rereading TLC for the 4th time...). It's fine. It's all fine. I'll work on my time management skills one of these days. Until then, take this. Tell me if you like it. Tell me if you don't. I can handle it.


	5. Chapter 05: Momentous

**Disclaimer**: TLC does not belong to me. That also includes the television network.

* * *

><p>Cinder's eyes widened as his lips pressed against hers, the sickness in her stomach turning into something warmer and more inviting. She moved to push him away but, upon realizing how right his lips felt, she dropped her arms and melted into it, the warnings in her retina display not annoying enough to make her want to pull away.<p>

She shut her eyes and leaned into him instead.

_Five seconds_, she told herself. _That's all you get._

_Five_. His fingers curled around her elbows. _Four_. Her hands trailed up his arms and his hands fell to her waist. _Three_. She could feel how soft his hair was through her gloves. _Two_. He pulled her against him. _One_. She deepened the kiss. _One_. His hands were so warm and comforting against the small of her back. _One_. She regained her grip on reality and who he was and what she was and dropped her arms, pressing her palms against his chest.

He drew back from her, his hands going to his pockets, his eyes opening slowly. "S-sorry. I've kind of wanted to do that since we met the other day."

"Really," she breathed, still trying to get a grip on her surroundings. She framed it like a question, though there were so many more flying through her head.

"Really."

She ached to kiss him again, her lips still tingling from the sensation, but she refrained.

Though wavering, she found her voice. "You should-you should get going. Back to the palace."

"R-right."

"Tomorrow at 08:00?"

He nodded, reaching for the door handle, "Tomorrow at 08:00."

* * *

><p>Cinder spent the next 45 minutes sitting at her desk, massaging her temples, trying to figure out why he kissed her and what it had meant. And, more importantly, why she kissed him back. Her sore stomach had returned and it was only further irritated by the anxiety brought on by the thoughts.<p>

The prince. Of the Eastern Commonwealth. Kissed _her_. Linh Cinder. Wedding Planner. Cyborg. Lonely teenager with no family and no real friends.

And he _kissed_ her.

She folded her arms on her desk and buried her head in them, trying to figure out why he did it. What did he see in her? They hadn't known each other for very long, anyway. Maybe he was just really forward. Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was pity. Maybe-

Her port binged from the corner of her desk and she sat up, fixing her pony tail before accepting the call.

"Your next appointment is here, Cinder."

"Thanks, Iko," she replied, smoothing down her shirt.

The door of her office slid open and Iko was accompanying two women in – one who was curvy and pale with long, red curls that fell halfway to her waist, and another who was shorter and petite, with short blonde hair that didn't even brush her shoulders. Cinder could see just how bright her blue eyes were from all the way across the room.

The red head smiled, "Hello, Miss Linh. It's a pleasure. I'm Michelle and this is my fiancée, Bella."

The orange light in her optobionics popped on. They were lying, but about what? Their names? She tried to blink it away, but it remained. She brushed it off.

Cinder bowed to them, "Michelle, Bella, hello. You may call me Cinder, if you wish." She glanced down at her netscreen, "So, you're just here for a consultation and a cost estimate, correct?"

The small blonde, Bella, nodded. "Right."

Michelle took her hand, though it seemed unnatural for them – almost uncomfortable, but maybe they weren't usually good with public displays of affection – and they moved to sit in the chairs across from the desk. Michelle spoke again, "What all do you need to know?"

Cinder popped out her netscreen and began to type, "Well, first things first, we need a date."

"December 23rd," Bella replied.

"Okay, three months from tomorrow. That's a pretty good time frame, though you might be pushing it on the dress. Will you need one dress, two, or are you leaning more towards suits? It's not often I get to plan weddings with two brides and there's always something new."

Michelle grinned, "Two dresses, but we've already found our designer for those."

The orange light persisted. It hadn't turned off once. She blinked rapidly a few more times before opting to ignore it.

Cinder scratched the back of her head, "Good, good. Do you have a proposed budget?"

"15,000 univs," Michelle replied, her grin growing with excitement. "Not including the dresses, of course."

"And how much were you wanting to spend on a venue?"

Bella spoke again in her airy, light voice. "Two thousand."

Cinder tapped the budget into her netscreen, along with the date, and pulled up available venues.

Suddenly, dizziness and nausea set in. She wobbled to her feet, bracing herself against her desk. "Uh, one sec. I need to, um, use the bathroom. I'm sorry, excuse me."

Michelle's face was full of concern, "Oh, no. Do you want me to accompany you?"

Cinder shook her head, "No thank you." Her stomach gurgled and she grimaced, "I'll only be a few minutes, I'm sorry."

Bella's eyes slid over to Michelle's, whose lips were turning up into a slight smirk. Bella nodded her head, "No worries, Miss Cinder. We'll be here."

She thought them a bit strange, especially as her orange light flickered off, but her stomach was willing her to continue to the bathroom rather than ask questions.

When she returned, the two women were perfectly poised in their seats, carrying on casual conversation.

"Sorry about that," she said, sitting back down at her desk and popping in a mint. "My clients before you were choosing their desserts and we just had to try three of everything."

Bella giggled, "Oh, I hope our dessert-deciding isn't so gluttonous!"

Cinder pressed a smile, only slightly offended, "Anyway, back to the venues."

* * *

><p>In the end, the two women decided they were going to go with another planner. That was fine. It happened more than Cinder would have liked, but she kept pretty busy nonetheless. Though the orange light had remained, almost annoying her, she continued to ignore it.<p>

She was just starting to gather her things when a comm alert popped up in her vision. She jumped a bit, having forgotten that she had turned off the link to the port on her desk so that it would connect instead to her retina display.

Inhaling a single, deep breath, she pulled up the message.

_**FROM: CROWN PRINCE KAITO, EASTERN COMMONWEALTH, ID #0082719057  
>MESSAGE:<strong>_ Definitely ate about six too many chocolates. Didn't even make it back to the palace before we had to stop.

She smiled to herself at first, but then she remembered the kiss, and she heaved a sigh.

He shouldn't have kissed her. It would have been a lot easier if he hadn't. She especially shouldn't have kissed him back.

"Cinder?" Iko called from the door. "Are we leaving?"

Cinder cleared her throat and tried to strengthen her voice, "Y-yeah. I'm just grabbing the rest of my-my stuff."

Iko peeked into the office, "Are you okay, Cinder?"

"I'll tell you when we get home." Cinder commanded the lights in her office to shut off and she locked the door behind her.

As she climbed into her hover, she got another comm alert.

_**FROM: CROWN PRINCE KAITO, EASTERN COMMONWEALTH, ID #0082719057  
>MESSAGE:<strong>_ How are you feeling?

Cinder sent away the message and stared out the window, anxiety swirling inside of her.

Iko leaned over, resting her elbows on her knees, her chin sitting atop her joined fists. "Can you tell me now?"

Cinder shut her eyes, "This is too small of a space."

"Huh?"

"You'll scream."

Iko tilted her head, "…Huh?"

Cinder opened her eyes and narrowed them at the android, her lips pressed into a line. It was enough warning for her to turn down her audio interface. "He kissed me. K-Kai, he kissed me."

Even as low as it can go, Cinder's ears were still sore by the time Iko finished screaming.

"What happened?!" She demanded.

Cinder shrugged, "I was just… walking him out. He looked at me and he just… it just happened."

Iko beamed, "Did you kiss him back?"

She replied by burying her eyes into a glove. "Yeah. And it was… it was nice. And I enjoyed it and I kind of want to do it again." Iko let out a small squeak. "It's complicated."

"I thought he couldn't know you liked him?"

"He can't," she groaned. "I don't know if he does."

* * *

><p>He threw his jacket over the chair. "Have you seen Hikaru?"<p>

Nainsi's blue sensor light washed over the prince, "Crown Prince Regent Hikaru is in his office."

"Thanks," Kai muttered, rushing out of his quarters and making a direct line for his brother's office.

As he neared, he realized that that area of the palace was deserted, which was rare. He stitched his eyebrows together and came to a slow. There were muffled voices coming from inside, including his brother's.

He put his ear next to the door and listened.

"–let were successful in planting the cameras and mics about an hour and a half ago."

"Do you think she's working for Levana?" It was Hikaru's voice.

The reply was muffled, and the audio was evidently scrambled so they couldn't be identified. "At the moment, she seems clear. But we cannot be certain just yet."

Kai lifted his fist and knocked on the door.

"Uh, just a sec!" Hikaru called back, and Kai heard him shuffling around his office before pulling the door open. The netscreens around his desk were all black. "Oh, hey Kai! What's up?"

Kai crossed his arms, "Who were you talking to?"

Hikaru pulled his eyebrows together, "What? Uh, no one. Myself, probably. Did you need something?"

Kai studied his brother for a moment and, deciding that he was probably just overthinking what he'd heard, sighed. "I need to talk to you about something. About Cinder."

"Oh." Hikaru perked up and stepped back to let Kai in. "What about her?"

Kai walked in and turned to face his brother. "I-I do think she's cute."

His brother laughed, "Thanks, Captain Obvious."

"I kissed her."

Hikaru's amused air disappeared, "You did _what_?"

"I…I kissed her."

Realizing he was still holding the door, Hikaru slammed it shut. "Why would you do a stupid thing like that?" He shook his head, "Wait. Did she kiss you back? Are you two a thing now?"

"She did kiss me back but, no, we're not 'a thing'. We didn't really talk about it and she's not responding to my comms. I don't know why I did it, either. It was kind of… in the moment. We had a moment, Hikaru. Just like all those stupid films we always make fun of." Kai bunched the silk cloth of his shirt in his hands, his eyes downcast. "I think I really like her. I only did it because Torin told me to go after it if I 'think it could work' or whatever."

"Torin?"

"Torin."

"Like, our Torin? Konn Torin? Royal Adviser to the Emperor Torin? Are you sure?"

Kai rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know. He did, though. He gave me advice our father would have given me."

Hikaru paled and turned away, "So, you took his advice and went for the pretty wedding planner. What next? Ruin her life with the press and death threats from your fan girls?"

"I...I don't know." He moved to sink down against the wall, his forearms propped on his knees. "What if I go in tomorrow and she pretends like nothing happened?"

"She probably will." Hikaru picked at one of his fingernails. "She's not necessarily a nobody, but she's not exactly celebrity status, either. Then you, a _prince_, show up and flirt with her and then you kiss her? She's probably terrified."

Kai shut his eyes, "Probably. Stars, what was I thinking?"

"You had a _moment_," Hikaru mocked. "I can't believe this. You didn't even think it through. What if she's working for Levana?"

Kai shot a glare at his brother, "So that's what you were talking about earlier, then? You think Cinder's working for _Levana_? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. I wonder the same thing, but we don't know what Levana's up to, and we don't know what means she'll use to get what she wants."

"Like marrying you?"

Hikaru turned a sickly shade of green, like the thought made him physically ill, "I suppose that should be enough, right?"

Kai pushed himself from the ground, "What are you doing, Hikaru? Sneaking around, talking to strange people, evacuating this corner of the palace so you can have privacy? What's going on?"

"Nothing. Nothing's going on, Kai. I'm just trying to deal with all of this, okay? It's not your life that's about to be ruined. You can go and have your cute little relationship with your cute little wedding planner while I'm busy being forced into something I will never want. Please, be happy. At least one of us still has the chance."

Kai watched as Hikaru stormed out. He reached out his hand, intending to stop him, but instead let it fall back to his side. He shouldn't have pushed the issue. He didn't mean anything by it.

His portscreen binged from his belt. He unhooked it, excitement playing with his nerves, and opened the comm he received.

The excitement drained immediately when he realized it wasn't from Cinder. He had a meeting in ten minutes.

Fixing his hair with one hand, Kai used the other to type out a quick message to Cinder and hoped that, this time, she'd reply.

* * *

><p>Another comm alert popped up in Cinder's vision when she stepped into the shower and she honestly thought she might scream. Why couldn't he just get the hint and leave her alone? She opened it up anyway.<p>

_**FROM: CROWN PRINCE KAITO, EASTERN COMMONWEALTH, ID #0082719057  
>MESSAGE: <strong>_I'm sorry if I screwed things up earlier. I hope you don't hate me. Perhaps we can talk things over after our meeting tomorrow?

Cinder felt guilt rising in her stomach. So much for a peaceful shower. She typed out a quick reply and held little hope that it would end there.

"I don't hate you."

She almost wished she did, though. That way she wouldn't want to kiss him again. And again.

And again.

She rested her back unsteadily against the wall, the water stream showering her entire left side. She would have to get the wedding over with. After that, she would have to get over him.

He couldn't love her. He just didn't quite know it yet.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: BONUS CHAPTER FOR THIS WEEK. It's to celebrate that I'm meeting Marissa Meyer tomorrow (the 31st)! If you're going to be at the Fairest event in Cincinnati, I'll be there dressed as Scarlet! It's going to be great fun, I'm so excited! I've been waiting for this day for, like, over a month and a half.

I really enjoyed Fairest, and I enjoyed the Winter excerpts even more! I won't say any more for those of you who haven't read it yet.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and I cannot make any promises on when the next update will be.


	6. Chapter 06: Progression

**Disclaimer**: It's nothing less than a blessing that I **do not **own The Lunar Chronicles.

* * *

><p>Kai entered her office with a quite obvious air of uncertainty. From his uncharacteristically shy smile to the way he hardly picked his eyes up from the ground, he was apparently very nervous about something.<p>

Cinder bowed her head to him, "You're just in time. Trinity will be here in a few minutes."

He finally looked up at her, confusion etched into his features, "Trinity?"

"Fashion designer from Cuba. One of the best in the world. She'll be designing and creating Hikaru's suit for the wedding." The netscreen popped out from Cinder's desk and she began to type on it. "She's not happy that he won't be here, but you two are relatively the same height and build, right?"

Kai's eyes went to the floor once again as he sat down, "Yeah."

"Wonderful," Cinder replied. She was making it look so easy to pretend like yesterday hadn't happened at all. Kai wished he could do the same. "And if you'd like, she's bringing extra material to make a suit for you."

"That's fine."

"Great. She'll be here any minute."

There was a stillness in the room. "Cinder, I-"

"Don't," she interrupted. "You said you wanted to talk about it after the meeting. We'll talk about it after the meeting."

He flushed, but said nothing more.

Kai counted twenty-three of his heartbeats where awkward silence filled the room and seemed to suck all of the oxygen out of it, but then the port on Cinder's desk binged and it was Iko, stating that Trinity had arrived.

The door slid open and a woman Kai didn't know was having an animated conversation with the android Iko as they walked in. Her dark brown hair was in tight curls and cut to her shoulders, framing her face perfectly, highlighting the caramel color of her skin.

Cinder shot up from her desk and rushed over. She didn't hug much, but she always hugged Trinity.

"Oh, my darling!" Trinity beamed, breaking the hug and holding the girl at arm's length and looking over her, "It's been far too long. You've grown your hair out!"

The woman was likely in her 40s, Kai decided, and he stood up to greet her. "Good morning."

Trinity backed away from Cinder and glanced over at him, "Your Highness." She approached him and fell into a natural bow, "It's a pleasure. I'm Trinity and I'll be designing His Majesty's suit for his wedding."

"The pleasure is all mine. Cinder says you're one of the best."

She smiled as she swept her gaze over him, "Cinder has always spoken too highly of me."

"That's not true," said Cinder, motioning to Iko to return to her post. "You are the best designer."

Trinity rolled her eyes playfully, "Let's get started then, hm?"

* * *

><p>Kai twisted in the suit, "It's a bit big."<p>

Trinity nodded, "I'm working on that, I know."

"It looks awful," he grumbled.

It actually looked _good_. Cinder couldn't help but stare. It was a bit baggy, but it still formed around his body in the best way, and just when she was certain that he couldn't possibly be any more handsome. At least he wasn't the one getting married.

Kai must have caught her staring, because he chuckled and winked at her through the mirror. Trinity caught the action and then turned her head curiously to Cinder, who shrank away, her arms crossed and head down.

Trinity gave a small grunt, though Cinder couldn't decide if it was from approval or not, and returned to her work.

After twenty minutes, she took a step back. "All done. How's it feel?"

Kai twisted in it again and then did a complete 360. Cinder's heart probably stopped at some point. "It's great. It'll fit him perfectly."

Trinity dipped her head, "Wonderful. Would you like to do yours now?"

Kai turned around to face Cinder, "Think you can handle it?"

"W-what?" She asked, eyes focusing, suddenly anxious.

Kai listed his head toward Trinity, "I think she's enjoying the view, don't you?"

"Indeed." Trinity snickered.

_Traitor_, Cinder thought. "I'm just worried we'll go over our time. But I trust Trinity, so I'm sure we can fit it in."

"Of course we can," Kai said, stepping off of the platform and heading to the changing room.

Trinity handed him what he was to change into and as he shut the door, she walked over to Cinder, whispering, "So, what's the deal with you two?"

Cinder looked at her with horror written all over her face, "What deal? There's no deal. I'm just the wedding planner."

"You seem to have some interest in him."

"He's the _prince_, Trinity."

"He's handsome! I wouldn't blame you. I think he likes you, too."

Cinder folded her arms over her chest, "Why do you say that?"

She leaned further in to say it directly into Cinder's ear. "He wouldn't stop staring at you. He was blushing the entire time."

"You're making that up."

"I'm serious, Cinder. This boy has a crush on you." Trinity shoved her shoulder lightly, "You should, you know, go for it."

Her eyes widened, her voice a harsh whisper. "Go for what?! There's nothing to g-"

Kai swung the door open, effectively cutting her off. He glanced between the two women with a confused look on his face before speaking.

"Did I interrupt something?"

"O-of course not," Cinder said, stepping away from Trinity and linking her hands behind her back.

Trinity grinned as she made her way back to Kai, "Not at all, dear. Just giving Cinder some motherly advice."

* * *

><p>"You haven't been answering my comms," said Kai. Trinity had been gone for a whole thirty-five seconds.<p>

Cinder pulled her office chair out and sank down into it, "I replied to one."

"One," he repeated. "I sent you four."

She shrugged lazily with one shoulder, "Kind of excessive, don't you think?"

"Why are you playing hard to get?"

Cinder chewed on her lip and moved her gaze to the wall behind him.

"I know you've got your concerns, but you don't have to be worried."

"I'm not worried about anything."

"Then why won't you reply to my comms?"

She jumped up from her chair, frustration coursing through her veins and wires, sending it propelling backwards on its wheels, and rounded the side of her desk. She reached for the built-in port and plucked it from its resting place, and began to jab at it. "Fine. You want me to comm you back, I'll comm you back."

She pressed the send button. Cinder turned to put it back on her desk, hearing his port binging in the background, when it tumbled from her hand and fell to the floor.

Cinder groaned, embarrassed, and leaned over to grab it.

He caught something silver under her glove gleam under the light above them as she bent to pick up the port. His mind went through a million things before he stop to rationalize.

It was metal. And it wouldn't make sense for it to be a piece of jewelry hidden beneath her glove.

It was metal. It was her hand.

And she was a cyborg. There was no other explanation.

The realization hit him like a wave. The conversation in the hover the other day, how she mentioned the legality of her leaving at 18. She found out when she was sixteen – three years ago, when the Cyborg Protection Act was annulled.

Cinder examined the port and sighed, setting it back on her desk, "I suppose I'll be replacing the vid cable on that. As I was say-," she was cut off when she caught his expression. Shock. "What?"

"Your, uh, your glove… rode up when you bent down to get your port…." His voice trailed and his ears reddened and Cinder knew exactly what he meant.

"You weren't supposed to see that," she said flatly, her entire demeanor changing. Defensive.

Kai blinked, "You're a-"

"Congratulations," said Cinder, as strongly and as clearly as she could manage, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "You've just discovered some very privileged information about me."

Kai blinked rapidly a few more times. "You-this whole time-"

"Yes. This whole time and since before I can remember." She took a measured breath. "Now, if you'd prefer, I can refer you to some other planners in the area. Or the palace can choose another on their own. Just let me know so I can send them what we've finalized so far."

He stood, his eyes still wild with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Cinder sighed and moved to send the netscreen back into her desktop. "I trust you no longer want to work with me on this." She was surprisingly calm, though she was certain it was because she was numb to the shock. Of course he would find out today, and that she wouldn't be able to tell him herself. Of course. "It's not the first time it's happened, don't worry. I understand. I will need you to sign a confidentiality agreement before you leave."

"A confide- Cinder. I'm not firing you."

"You're not?"

He shook his head, "No. I'm sure Hikaru would, but I'm not going to."

She laughed, and it sounded as if she were smothering disappointment. "Your brother hates cyborgs, doesn't he? Great."

"He's not perfect."

"So you also know why you and I can't be together now, right? Why I won't talk about the-the kiss?"

He settled back onto the chair, his hand going to scratch his ear. He studied her for a moment. From her perpetually messy, fine hair to the gloves that hid her secrets, to the boots she was standing so uncomfortably in. He wondered if it was just her hand, or if there was more. He was afraid to ask. She'd no doubt take it the wrong way. His eyes drew lines over her form, the way she held herself, how she always kept her chin up. Her face was so perfectly symmetrical, and her lips – he recalled how soft and warm they had been. How right they felt.

"Do you?" Her sharp tone cut through his thoughts.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean I agree."

He watched Cinder bristle, leaning toward the side of her mahogany desk, how her chest heaved behind her crossed arms as she tried to catch her breath.

She walked in front of her desk and perched against the edge of it, directly in front of him. Almost within reach. "But you don't understand. Not like you think you do. Not like you need to."

"What are you so afraid of?" He asked, his voice hushed.

Her crossed arms tightened around her, as if she were protecting herself. "Everything, Kai. Everything."

He squared his shoulders, "Do you have feelings for me or not? All I need is the answer to that and we'll figure out where to go from here."

Cinder clenched her jaw.

"If you say no, it's fine. I just need to know."

Her gaze met his, piercing but fearful. "I-I think so."

Kai's shoulders relaxed and he smiled, "So, you like me. I like you. What's the most logical way for us to proceed with this?"

"We can't," she said, her voice as small as ever.

He jumped to his feet. She was so close to him, he could reach out and take her in his arms. "What can I do, Cinder? What can I do to make you want this like I do?"

Her lip trembled and her eyes shifted between his, "Tell me-tell me this is worth it. T-tell me it's not stupid and that this can-that this could work."

He reached up and took her face in his hands, "It can work, Cinder."

She dropped her arms, trembling all over.

"How?" She was sure she'd be crying if it were possible, by the tell-tale sign that she was developing a headache. Then again, she wasn't sure why she would cry at all. "Once word gets out – and it will – my life will be a mess."

Kai chuckled, though he knew he should tread lightly. "It's not like I'm your client."

"Right. You're just the prince. Not a big deal at all." She tried not to recoil from his touch, "If nothing else, what if it just doesn't work out?"

"What if it does?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes, "I didn't build my life around blind optimism, Kai."

He let his hands fall back to his sides, "Fine."

He looked crushed, and the sight clamped a cold fist around Cinder's heart. Stars, she wanted to comfort him. Tell him they could do it.

But she didn't have herself convinced quiet yet. "We don't even really know each other, Kai. I mean, honestly. What do you know about me past what you've learned today and the last couple of days? What do I know about you past what I've seen in the news?"

His expression lightened considerably, "Okay. So, let's start getting to know each other better."

"Not today," said Cinder as she moved to gather her things. "I promised Iko that after our appointment, we could go shopping."

He bit his cheek, "Then, tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's Sunday. If you think I'm leaving my apartment on my only day off, you're sorely mistaken."

Kai laughed, "Fine. Okay. Day after tomorrow?"

Cinder nodded, "Day after tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Yay! Another chapter! I only just finished writing chapter 9... ugh. I recently discovered that I am _very _behind on homework in my French classes, so I've been spending a lot of time doing that! Also, writer's block. And I'm writing something else at the moment... I happen to like it a lot more than this, so I've been putting a lot of energy into that. Um, yeah. Meeting Marissa was super cool! She's so lovely/adorable. So, yeah, review if you want. Or don't. I don't mind.


	7. Chapter 07: Escapism

**Disclaimer**: I have zero rights to the Lunar Chronicles or its characters. I cry about it sometimes.

* * *

><p>She dragged her eyes open as soon as the clock in her vision struck 10:00. Cinder grinned to herself. Sundays were her favorite; she got to sleep in past 06:30. Yawning the sleep away, she threw her legs over the side of her bed and pushed herself to her feet, walking to the small bathroom connected to her room, starting her morning routine before she had to boot Iko for the day.<p>

She'd just finished brushing her teeth when she heard a knock on the door. Not expecting visitors, she made sure her yoga pants were all the way to the floor and threw on a sweatshirt over her black tanktop and slid into a pair of slippers. The knocking became more impatient as she stuffed her left hand into the pocket of her sweatshirt.

"I'm coming!" She called, irritated.

Cinder opened the door and the warm, caramel-brown eyes that met hers caused her to stumble two steps back, "What are you doing here? How did you find out where I live?"

"I'm the _prince_."

"Don't remind me."

He smirked, "I was hoping you'd be awake." He held up a basket that she hadn't noticed before, "I brought lunch."

Cinder stared at him in disbelief. "Okay, but really. What are you doing here?"

Kai looked around. She was sure he was sweltering. It was hot and humid outside, according to her retina display, and he was wearing the ugliest, baggiest sweatshirt she'd ever seen. His hair fell unkempt across his brow and she buried the part of her that was aching to reach out and sweep it back.

"Well, I didn't feel like waiting until tomorrow to see you again. I thought that, instead, we could get to know each other a little better today."

Cinder softened, took a fistful of his sweatshirt in her hand, yanked him through the doorway. "What if someone would have seen you?"

He shrugged, "I assume they would've been right behind me, don't you think?"

She grunted, "Do you want to borrow one of my sweatshirts? You look uncomfortable."

"I actually brought an extra shirt with me." He pulled it from top of the basket, "Where's the bathroom?"

She lifted an uneasy arm, "End of the hallway, to the right."

He left to change and when he walked out, she was pulling her own sweatshirt over her head. "U-uh, sorry."

Cinder tossed it onto the couch, "Oh, calm down. It just got a little hot." Then, she got a good look at him. The shirt was plain and black and no doubt a lounge shirt. Her heart sputtered a bit when she realized that he could make anything look good.

"Where's Iko?"

She regained control of her thoughts, "I haven't had the chance to boot her up yet. Would you like me to? I'm sure she's got plenty of embarrassing stories about me."

"Nah, I'd rather hear all of those embarrassing stories from you. Besides, I think it's best if she doesn't have to be stuck being the third wheel." He winked and Cinder thought she might melt all over her carpet. Did he consider this a… date?

She laughed away the butterflies in her stomach, "Well, when I'm dead tomorrow because she finds out I didn't wake her for this, it's all on you."

Kai shrugged, his appreciative gaze sweeping over her. "I think I'll take that risk."

Picking up the basket he'd brought, Cinder moved to sit on the couch. He sat at the other end and faced her. "What did you bring?"

"Just some sandwiches and fruit from the kitchens. Nothing fancy."

She failed at concealing her smile, "Well, thanks, I suppose. Do you wanna catch a movie or something?"

Kai listed his head toward the netscreen hanging on the wall opposite them. "Netscreen, on. Feed seven." He glanced back at her, "My favorite movie is playing today, thanks for asking."

"Good to know."

They both ate rather quickly and silently. The movie was pretty lame, in Cinder's opinion, but she pretended to like it, considering Kai continually looked over to assess her reactions. (Or so she thought. He was actually doing it because he simply wanted to.)

When they'd finished almost all of the food he brought, Cinder pushed the basket aside and moved to the center cushion. Closer to Kai, but not touching him. He inched closer as well, and Cinder could see is ears turning pink. He threw his arm casually around the back of the couch.

"So do you always watch movies set in the second era, or are you fonder of futuristic movies?"

He hummed thoughtfully, "I'm not really picky. I love love stories, though."

Stars, what a dork. "Yeah. You seem like the type."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said, dropping his arm from the back of the couch to around her shoulders with perfect fluidity.

Her playful smile disappeared and she froze. "D-don't."

Kai retracted his arm, "Oh, sorry. Too fast?"

"I'm just… not used to human contact, is all." She began to crawl her fingers across the distance between them, hooking her pinky into the palm of his left hand as though she were testing the waters. "Though h-holding hands is-is fine."

He completed the action, intertwining their fingers. "Holding hands is perfect."

Cinder warmed at his touch and his words and released a small, satisfied sigh. She was getting somewhere. That was good. Still, she couldn't get past that he was the prince and she, a mere wedding planner. Hardly a woman. It was the umpteenth time she'd reminded herself that morning alone.

"Cinder, can I ask you a relatively invasive question?"

She slid her eyes and her full attention to him, "Shoot."

He cleared his throat, "Uh, is your hand the only cyborg part of you?"

Cinder folded her lips for a moment, trying to concoct a good answer. She could have just said no and showed him the rest. Or she could choose to tell him everything. Might as well do it now, while he was here. She lifted her head to look at him fully, "I was in a really bad hover accident when I was ten. I lived with my parents somewhere in Europe at the time. I came to the EC when I was 11. When I was 13, I was overwhelmingly curious about my history and my parents. I started doing searches on one particularly lonely night and I found news articles and photos and, stars, I can't believe they put some of them online. My parents were killed on impact." Her voice hitched. She had no memories of them. "I was thrown from the hover and pinned under it." She sucked in a relaxing breath, "I lost my left leg, my left hand, and my eyes were badly damaged from debris."

He gaped at her. In amazement. In shock. "Your leg and your eyes, too?"

She nodded and almost thought he was disgusted. When she tried to pull her hand back, he held tighter.

"So, your leg is cyborg and your eyes are…?"

"Synthetic," she said when she realized he wouldn't, "I have something of a netscreen in the bottom of my left iris."

He leaned forward and stared at her eye. "Really?" She pulled up a net feed and hoped it was bright enough for him to see. He blinked. "It's so small."

"It's much bigger to me. I even have net connectivity. In my brain. It's why I'm so good at my job, why it seems like I know so much. I just conduct searches while clients talk. Weird, isn't it?"

He said nothing in reply to her rambling. She watched his eyes focus and she realized he was looking at her this time, his gaze softening. Her lungs hitched and her eyes instinctively fell to his lips, which were parted.

She could feel herself start to tremble as he inclined his head, and his lips were warmer and softer than she remembered. This time, they were even coaxing. Her heart palpitating, she sent away the warnings in her retina display and reluctantly released his hand and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her human fingers losing themselves in his hair.

It was strange, to be there and know they wouldn't have any interruptions this time.

It lasted ten seconds – not like she was counting, or anything.

He pulled away, though his lips hovered dangerously close to hers, "We can't get to know each other better if we spend the whole day kissing."

"You started it," she muttered, breaking away from him. She dropped her arms and took his hand in hers again, and they went back to watching the net.

She moved to rest her head on his shoulder. If she could manage for one day to forget that he was the prince, it would make everything much easier. He wasn't a prince. He wasn't in line for any sort of vital world-leadership position.

He was just Kai.

That's all she needed him to be.

Hands clasped together and her head resting comfortably against his shoulder, they asked each other questions back and forth for a good hour and a half.

Kai was in the middle of a particularly long story when Cinder dozed off to the smooth sound of his voice and the scent of soap that clung loosely to his shirt.

"Cinder," he whispered, checking to see if she was asleep. She made no indication that she was awake and Kai couldn't help but smile. She looked so peaceful, so content – judging from the small smile on her face.

He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and slowly moved to check his port. He'd had it on silent mode so as not to disturb them, and he unlocked it to discover five very angry, very recent messages from Hikaru.

Grumbling, he read them.

_Where are you?_

_Kai, where'd you go?_

_Why aren't you answering me?_

_What's wrong?_

_You're an asshole! Where are you?_

Rolling his eyes, he tapped out a reply.

_I took a personal day. I'm fine. Leave me alone_.

He didn't bother asking what his brother wanted, he didn't really care at the moment. Cinder half-nuzzled his shoulder, and he stiffened and hoped he hadn't woken her, but she made no other movements to suggest she'd woken up.

Kai smiled and gently rested his head atop hers, watching the net feed and finding it incredibly boring, but he didn't want to risk waking her by changing it. He didn't realize he'd dozed off, too.

Cinder managed to pull her eyes open not an hour later, the clock in her retina display telling her it was only 13:04. She couldn't move, though, she noticed, because his head was resting on top of hers and there were little, tiny snores coming from him and it was the most adorable thing ever.

She giggled quietly to herself and trained her eyes on their intertwined fingers. There was a pestering at the back of her mind, a prickling reminder of their different statuses, but she pushed it back, kept it at bay.

Her doubts would not ruin, well, whatever this was.

Maybe she would ask Kai what he thought of it when he woke up, but she didn't want to wake him now. Stars knew he probably never got to sleep very often.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait too long. He woke with a start and looked around, shaking away the groggy fog in his head.

He looked over and caught Cinder staring at him, grinning. "You're up."

He ran his free hand through his hair, "How long was I out?"

She shrugged.

"What time is it? I didn't waste the whole day, did I?"

"It's just after 13:00," she replied, squeezing his hand. "Do you want something to drink?"

He looked away, "Uh, water would be nice."

Cinder rose to her feet and her hand fell from his as she made her way towards the kitchen. As she reached for two glasses, she turned her head towards him, "Kai, can I ask you a question?"

"I believe you already did," he replied with a pleased smirk. When she scoffed, he chuckled, "Yes, you may."

She held the glasses awkwardly in her hands, staring down at them, her stomach churning. "What… what is this? What we're doing? You being here, what… what does it mean?"

Kai shifted, blushed. "Oh, well, I didn't want to scare you off by calling it a date, but…."

Cinder's hands shook as she filled the glasses with water from the fridge door, "Oh, s-so you do think it's a date."

"It doesn't have to be."

She returned to the couch and handed him the glass, taking her spot next to him again. She regarded the netscreen, "Feed 12." Then, she glanced over at Kai, "I want it to be. I just had to make sure."

He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her over and over again, but he swallowed the idea with a gulp of water and then leaned over to kiss her forehead, "It's definitely a date. Hopefully the first of many."

Cinder thought her heart might catch fire.

_Hopefully_.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: So, I didn't want to post this just yet, since I've only just started working no chapter 10, but it's Valentine's Day and we all need some Kaider fluff in our lives. (This was meant to be a mostly-filler chapter. I swear I did not plan for this.) I promise you will start meeting the other characters soon! At the moment, I am completely swamped with homework! I'm not even behind, it's just I get it all done one day and I go to class the next day and bam, another entire night spent doing homework. On top of the fact that I have a job and absolutely no attention span. Yikes.

Anyway! I hope you liked it! If not, I'm sorry. I still totally appreciate you reading it.


	8. Chapter 08: Confidentiality

**Disclaimer**: Do I even need to do these anymore? I'm running out of clever ways of saying, "I don't own TLC and I'm not making any money from this and I'm a sad, broke college student about it."

* * *

><p>Ze'ev Kesley paced the small alcove of the hideaway, hands clasped behind his back, fears and doubts encircling the plans that were running through his mind. They had a week and a half before their plans would come to fruition. A week and a half to save the Eastern Commonwealth, and by extension the world, from Queen Levana.<p>

Ze'ev wasn't an anxious man, but he was feeling particularly nervous. If they failed, well–

"Z?" Scarlet stuck her head in, her red curls falling into her face. They were caught by the light of the holographic candles strung along the walls, making it look as though her head was on fire. "I spoke with my grand-mère. I'm leaving in an hour to head to Rieux to pick up the supplies."

He stopped pacing and glanced at her. "Does it have to be you?"

She entered the alcove and moved to rest against the rocky wall. "We've gone over this, Z. I want to see my grand-mère one last time and Thorne is a god-awful pilot."

"I know." He traversed the length of the alcove to stop directly in front of her, bracing a palm against the wall above her right shoulder. Scarlet could see his nervous energy, how his fingers _tap, tap, tapped _against the rock behind her. "I just hate that you have to go alone."

She pressed a hand gently against his cheek. "I'm well versed in how to use a gun and I'll only be gone two days." She pushed herself onto her toes to give him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth. "I'll be fine, Ze'ev. I always am."

They'd been stuck in that cave in the Commonwealth for a month and a half, ever since they first contacted Hikaru about Levana's intentions. The prince regent had been terrified, but not surprised. The information had come directly from Cress, a refugee from Luna who'd escaped with her father when she was only a child.

How she'd gotten the information was unclear – they considered that it may have been purely speculation, but Scarlet herself was convinced that it was the girl's excellent hacking skills that gave her the evidence. It didn't matter, really. All they knew was that Prince Hikaru was in serious danger if he married Levana, and they had to do something about it.

They had to kidnap him, and they had to make it seem like he wasn't involved – going so far as to keep his own brother in the dark about it.

Ze'ev wasn't sure which would be harder.

* * *

><p>She stared down at her netscreen, trying to hide her disappointment. "Looks like today is probably the last day you'll actually have to be here. We just need to finalize the wait staff and the seating chart." She glanced up at him. "Hopefully this won't take too long."<p>

Kai scowled. "I hope it does."

Cinder chuckled. "I suppose we'll have to have more repeats of yesterday, then, won't we?"

"I certainly planned on it. I'll miss being able to see you every day, though."

"That's kind of the point, you know." She was facing her netscreen again, but she could see him through her eyelashes. "When you're dating someone, you're not supposed to see them every day. Keeps it from getting boring or annoying." She assumed so, at least.

He cocked his head to the side as he spoke. "I don't see you ever being boring or annoying."

"Then I suppose it's me we have to worry about." She sat up, folding her hands on her desk, a half-smirk on her lips. "We won't be able to see each other all the time. That's just how it is, regardless of who you are." She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her fingers fluttering across the screen that was popped out of her desktop. "But we really should get these last few things cleared up."

He settled back into the chair, considering her. "You should come to the palace later."

"Oh, sure. I'll get right on that."

"I'm serious."

She sighed.

"You can even bring Iko. If anyone asks, you're there on business."

Cinder rolled away from her desk again, leaning back in the chair and folding her hands over her stomach. "If I say yes, can we actually get down to business? I have other clients to see today."

Kai shrugged. "I don't know. Try me."

"Fine. I'll come."

He smiled. "Great. What time do you get off?"

She sat back up in her chair. "Looking over the seating chart, I can see the only obstacle being figuring out who you like the least, and then we'll sit them near the Lunar court."

"President Vargus isn't our favorite person," said Kai. "But I don't know if we dislike him enough for that. Want me to comm Hikaru?"

"No, I think I'll just set them at a corner table. Enough to feel included but not enough for them to be suspicious about it. I was thinking that Prime Minister Bromstad and his family could handle sitting near them, yeah?"

Kai laughed aloud. "So you believe the rumors that he slept with that woman from the Lunar court?"

Cinder gave a mild shrug. "I don't feed into rumors, Kai. You know that."

"Forgive me if I'm hard to convince."

Cinder dragged a few more names to different chairs in the seating chart before sending it away. "Now, for the wait staff, Levana requested human servants only. Is this acceptable?"

"Do we have any other choice?"

She tapped out the request for staff on her netscreen. "No. No we don't." She pressed send and then glanced up at him. "Well, looks like that's all I need from you, Kai. Anything else can be hashed out via comm. Further meetings would be a waste of time, and I do hate to waste your time."

"You've never done such a thing, Cinder." He stood up and slinked over to her desk, placing his palms flat atop it and leaning over so their noses were almost touching. "What time will you be over?"

She straightened her shoulders,."My last appointment ends at 15:00."

"Come over for dinner," he said quietly, his lips moving millimeter-by-millimeter closer to hers. "Let me show you around. The palace gardens are beautiful this time of year."

"I'm sure they are."

"I'll send a hover around 17:00?"

She grinned. "Sounds good to me," she said, and then closed the distance between them.

He lifted a hand and ran his fingers along her collarbone, causing her to shiver, and then around the back of her neck, pulling her as close as he could.

Cinder wondered if it was too soon to call it perfect.

* * *

><p>He pressed his shoulder into the rocky wall, his signature smirk on his face. "I do love when you do your hacking thing."<p>

The small girl tilted back in her chair, viewing him upside down. He caught the brightness of her blue eyes from across the dimly-lit space in the alcove. "How long have you been standing there?"

She straightened as he walked over to her. "Just since you started singing."

A blush filled in the pale skin beneath the freckles that speckled her cheeks. "O-oh. I never notice when I do that."

"It's nice, Cress. You have a gorgeous singing voice."

She tugged her fingers through her short hair. "Th-thanks, Thorne."

"Have you found anything?" He asked, pulling up a chair next to her. "Ze'ev's all nervous and pacing since Scarlet left, and I think the guy might bust a vein if we don't find something on this Cinder girl."

Cress swiveled her gaze between him and her netscreen, a frown touching the corner of her lips. "She's just a normal girl with a sad history. I don't think she's working for Levana. She doesn't have a reason to. And, Thorne. I think we have a problem."

"What is it?"

She looked at him again, her eyes clashing with his. Her eyes always reminded him of the sky on a clear day. Striking and bright. "I think… judging by the audio recordings we've been picking up from Cinder Linh's office… I think she and Prince Kai are dating."

"Aces and spades!" Thorne said, his tone full of amusement. "Do you know if his brother knows?"

"No. And they have a really good reason to keep it from him." She turned back to her netscreen and tapped a few buttons, pulling up a full body shot of Cinder as a child, post-surgery. Hospital records. Confidential. "The prince regent isn't particularly fond of cyborgs."

Thorne's eyes widened at the pictures on the screen. "No way. She's a cyborg? This is too good."

Cress sent the pictures away and folded her leg under her as she twisted toward him again. "Prince Kai does know. He found out by accident, but it seems it wasn't a big deal for him."

* * *

><p>Thorne went quiet at her words, examining Cress like she was another bullet point on the list of things they hadn't yet worked out. "How are you, Cress?"<p>

She knew what he meant. He'd said it so full of pity, it almost made her feel sick. "I'm fine, Thorne."

"Your dad's death was really hard on you. You can talk about it."

"I don't _want _to talk about it." She moved to shut the netscreen off. "Because of course he would die two days before the antidote was confirmed. It doesn't matter. It… it doesn't matter at all. We're going to finish what he started. We're going to overthrow Levana. It doesn't matter that-that he… he's gone." She swallowed her sob and pushed away from the small desk that had been "gifted" to Thorne by a wood shop at the New Beijing marketplace.

Cress walked to the small, man-made archway that looked out into the bigger part of the natural underground tunnel, tears stinging her eyes. She was always so quick to cry, and she _hated _it. It made her feel weak. "What if we die, Thorne? All of our hard work – overthrowing Levana, saving the world – what if it all goes to waste? Even if we don't get killed during the attack, there's still a chance it'll fail either way. Levana will kill us! Or worse, she'll-she'll torture us."

Finally, a small sob erupted from her throat and Thorne moved to comfort her. He pulled her away from the arch and into his arms. "We can't afford to think like that. We knew the risks going into this, Crescent. One day at a time, remember?"

She frowned. "R-right."

They were quiet then, and he brushed a stray hair out of her face, shooting her his Prince Charming smile. She blushed and a stray tear fell from her eye and began to roll down her cheek. Thorne leaned over and pressed his lips to the spot where the tear paused, then pulled away and brushed his thumb across it.

"It's all right, Cress."

His fingers lingered against her skin and he was looking so intently at her that she thought she might die right there in front of him. And she thought that their lips might touch, that he might finally kiss her, after all this waiting she'd been doing.

She could tell he was moving closer, just by virtue of the fact that she kept feeling warmer, and warmer, and warm-

Ze'ev cleared his throat. "So, uh, Cress. Didn't you meet Thorne after your father caught him trying to steal his hover?"

"Yes," she squeaked, moving away from Thorne and stepping back toward her desk. "Why?"

"Just checking my memory. Have you found anything on the Linh girl?"

She relayed all of the information, or lack thereof, to him. When she got around to the whole dating-the-prince part, she paused. "We do have some… slight complications."

At the flash of confusion in Ze'ev's eyes, Cress did her best to repeat the spiel she had told Thorne – Cinder and Kai were together, and only the stars knew how long it would take for them to fall in love. It could really screw things up.

Cursing, Ze'ev kicked a wall. "This is going to screw everything up."

"_Clearly_, considering you kicked a wall," Thorne said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Ze'ev tensed. "This isn't funny, Thorne. We're now putting her in unnecessary danger if something goes wrong."

Thorne gave a mild shrug. "I suppose we'll have to do everything right, then."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: FUN FACTS! I finished writing chapter 11! Which means I'm 3 chapters ahead now :3 I've been neglecting my homework so bad... I'm almost a week late on an assignment (in my defense, my professor said, and I quote, "I'm not too concerned with deadlines, just that you know what you're doing." Bless her heart.) Anyway, I don't know when I'll get around to 12. We'll have to see! PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS. THE EMAIL ALERTS MAKE ME SO HAPPY. /caps. Have a lovely weekend, darlings.


	9. Chapter 09: Uninvited Interference

The rolling farmlands of Rieux, France always brought a sort of calm to Scarlet's heart. She'd spent most of her life there; it was the only real home she ever knew. The endless sky, blue with wispy clouds this morning, and the serene emptiness of the rural land had always struck her as something better than anything she could've dreamt of.

It took a lot of adjusting to go from living in the city and being spoiled to waking up at 6 AM every day, even when it was still completely dark out, but she'd learned to love it. Getting along with her grand-mère had been difficult at first – Scarlet was sure she wasn't cut out to work her entire life away like her grandmother, but she came to love that, too.

She threw down the brakes of the ship as her grandmother's farmhouse came into view, the smile on her face growing ever-bigger, stretching almost ear to ear. She hadn't seen the farm in over a month and she missed it more than anything. She could almost smell the fresh air just beyond the windshield as she pulled into the open hangar, her grand-mère standing off to the side and waving as she entered.

The hangar still had the familiar scent of grease mixed with manure, and it wasn't necessarily pleasant, but Scarlet was finally home.

Too bad she would be leaving again tomorrow.

"Scarlet, ma chérie! Did you have a safe trip?" her grandmother asked, embracing her.

"Bien sûr, grand-mère. It was a little crowded up in space, but it was the quickest way to get here."

Michelle Benoit took a step away from her granddaughter and studied her. "Would you like to go to the Tavern with me? I'm making a delivery to them today."

The redhead beamed. "Yeah! How's Gilles?"

"Stubborn as always." Michelle smiled. "But he will be happy to see you, I'm sure."

"Is that man ever happy, honestly?"

"No, I believe not. Come, I'm sure he'll threaten to dock us for being late. I'll drive – you must be exhausted."

She half-dragged herself to her grandmother's delivery ship, her legs still begging to stretch more before she sat again, but they would have to wait.

Scarlet hated the way it felt like she'd completely forgotten the colors of Rieux, the green of the fields and the red brick houses set against endless horizon. Cows grazing in the fields and horses galloping along fences.

Once the plans had been fulfilled and everything was over, she and Ze'ev would be moving back for good. The Commonwealth was beautiful, but frankly a little too humid and a bit too crowded. She missed the comfort of a small town – not so unpredictable, at the very least. Quiet and beautiful and comfortable. It always felt like home, even to Ze'ev, who was raised on a completely different planet. Well, satellite.

* * *

><p>The familiar garbage stink of the alley was almost welcoming. She peeled herself out of the passenger seat, her legs rejoicing that they were once again free, and popped open the hatch, reaching for a crate of tomatoes and one of onions as her grandmother opened the door to the tavern.<p>

The noise of the kitchen, mixed with the rowdy patrons – even so early in the day – brought another smile to her face. The muscles in her face would definitely be sore for the rest of the day.

She pushed in through the noise of the tavern and none of the cooks or servers paid them any attention as they waded through the crowd, nearing the walk-in fridge where they always dropped their shipments off.

Gilles found them before they could set the crates down. "Michelle! I was afraid you'd forgotten about me." His eyes skidded over the old woman and landed on Scarlet. "Scar? Is that you?"

She beamed. "Who else?"

"I haven't seen you in a while! How are you?"

"I'm great! Just came to see grand-mère. She said you were coming here so I tagged along."

"And how is your delightful streetfighter boyfriend?" Gilles asked, taking the tomato crate from her hands and setting it in its marked place.

Scarlet shoved the onions onto a shelf and wiped her hands on her pants. "He's wonderful. Still in the Commonwealth, but I'll be heading back there tomorrow."

"Not staying? Why not?"

Scarlet shrugged as she grabbed a crate from her grandmother. "I came because I left something important here. We're vacationing in China with our friends from LA – you know about Cress and Thorne, right?"

Gilles rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately, yes. I remember how that boy tried to steal one of my waitress's tips."

"Émilie forgave him," said Scarlet. "He's really not such a bad guy. Questionable morals, sure, that's a given. He's almost charming, when he isn't being mind-numbingly annoying."

* * *

><p>"Is that not all the time?" The old woman asked, handing over a crate of lettuce heads. "Honestly, that boy has no sense of manners."<p>

Scarlet pulled up the zipper on her hoodie to her diaphragm. "Thorne is an acquired taste."

"And to think that little Crescent is interested in him," said Michelle as they followed Gilles back in through the kitchen.

Scarlet chuckled. "Those two are such a mess, honestly."

The tavern's owner pushed a plate towards Scarlet. "Here, take this to booth 6."

The redhead narrowed her eyes at him, grabbing the plate and exiting into the tavern. It was Sunday morning, but it was still as raucous as always. She spotted a lone woman at booth six and walked over. "Eggs Benedict with bacon and toast on the side?"

As the woman nodded, there was an uproar of laughter from the bar. "I believe it," someone guffawed.

Sighing, Scarlet set the plate in front of the woman and gave her a fleeting smile, and then marched over and leaned over the bar, looking down it.

"I don't. The prince and a wedding planner? _A commoner_? He wouldn't stoop so low!" Another round of laughter.

"No, no. Prince Hikaru wouldn't, but Prince Kai's always had it out for the precious lower classes," said another voice.

She quirked an eyebrow. "What's up, guys?"

"Scarlet!" Someone shouted. "Haven't seen you here in a while! You're in the Commonwealth, right?" She located the voice a few stools down. A regular. "You hear about Prince Kai supposedly dating the woman who's planning the royal wedding?"

Scarlet blinked. "Linh Cinder?"

"Yeah!"

"Those are just rumors," she shouted back.

"A pretty popular one, I'll say!" Another stranger laughed.

She cursed under her breath and excused herself, wondering if the rest of the team had found that out yet. It was only a rumor at that point, based on speculation from people who'd seen them together at appointments and the knowledge that she'd gone to the palace last night. Apparently it was for business, but someone had leaked that she was there for dinner. Point of it was, even rumors would ruin their plans.

She pushed through the small crowd and into the kitchens, where her grand-mère and Gilles were having an animated conversation. She grabbed the fabric of Michelle's sleeve.

"Hey, uh, grand-mère, I'm really tired. Can we go home? I'll stop by in the morning to say goodbye to everyone."

Michelle gave her a suspicious look before softening and smiling. "Of course, Scar. You must be starved! Come, I'll make some crepes with fresh berries and we'll have one of our old-fashioned Benoit debates. How's that sound?"

"Lovely, grand-mère," said Scarlet with a more-than-theatrical yawn. "I'll stop by in the morning, Gilles. Goodbye!"

After they got outside, Michelle furrowed her brow. "What's wrong, Scarlet?"

"I need to contact the squad. Immediately. I just heard there's a rumor flying around that the prince is dating the wedding planner."

Michelle's eyebrows shot up. "_Prince Hikaru_?"

"No, Prince Kai." Michelle's expression contorted into one of understanding. "If we succeed in our plans, we could put that girl in serious danger. Stars only know what Levana would do to her."

"They're only rumors, Scar."

"We can't afford the risk."

She pulled the port out of the pocket of her hoodie and vid-commed Ze'ev. The globe in the corner of the screen turned only once.

"Scarlet? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Ze'ev! I was just at the Tavern with my grand-mère. I heard about Prince Kai and Linh Cinder-"

His emerald eyes darkened. "Cress just told us."

"So, it's true?"

He nodded. "She went over the audio we've collected from Cinder's office. We're still moving forth with the plans, if you agree to it."

Scarlet exhaled a sigh, her mind swimming with all of the images of what could happen. "We've no other choice, do we?"

Ze'ev grimaced. "I know. There's a lot that could go wrong if we succeed, but it'll be far worse than we don't." Scarlet dropped her eyes as he continued. "It'll all be over soon."

* * *

><p>He never wanted this.<p>

He never wanted _any _of this.

Emperor Rikan was not supposed to die so soon. His father was not supposed to be gone already.

It was not supposed to be his job yet to lead the country. He should have had more time. He deserved more time.

But his father died and he screwed up everything his first week in office. They hadn't even had time to plan the coronation before Levana swooped in and ruined everything. The only way out of her wrath was a marriage alliance.

Of course, he was stupid enough to believe that, though the stupidity hadn't lasted long.

It wasn't even a day after announcing the alliance when he was in his office late – he was always there late now. He never got to sleep anymore and he was just _so tired_. And he wasn't doing anything important – mostly staring at the wall and wondering how he had been so unlucky. How all of this misfortune just had to fall on him. But the netscreen on his desk pushed itself out of the desktop, turned on by itself, connected to a comm by itself.

That probably should've scared Hikaru more than it had. He mostly watched it happen with cool indifference and the smallest dash of curiosity.

"Y-r H-ness? –our –ess? Your Hi-ss? Your Highness?" Once the connection was fully formed, there was a man behind the screen with wild emerald eyes and hair that stuck up in every direction.

"What the hell?"

"Prince Hikaru! Don't disconnect. This is urgent. " The man was flanked by four others, all of whom he dwarfed easily–a curvy young woman with red hair that curled in perfect ringlets to her waist, a petite girl with short-cropped blonde hair, and next to her, a man at least an entire foot taller than the former, with brown hair and a look that said he would've preferred to be elsewhere.

His curiosity outweighing his suspicions, Hikaru cleared his throat. "Who are you?"

The brunette man from behind him spoke first. "ALAS! Anti-Lunar Attack Squad."

"Shut _up_, Thorne," the redhead growled. He imagined her name was something obvious like Red.

"Came up with it myself," he grumbled. The blonde-haired girl smiled at him, her eyes lit with longing–Hikaru recognized the look from some of the girls he'd dated in the past.

Emerald Eyes shook his head. "We've come to you with urgent information regarding Queen Levana and her plans should the alliance go through."

Confusion filled Hikaru. He raked a hand through his hair. "What do you mean 'should it go through'? It's already going through."

"But it can't," the blonde girl squeaked.

"Levana's planning to kill you," Emerald Eyes said plainly.

Hikaru laughed, though it felt more like someone stabbed him in the chest. "Of course she is."

"That's not all. She also plans to use the Eastern Commonwealth's army, as well as the army of Luna, to take over the rest of Earth."

"And I'm supposed to believe this because…?"

Red straightened her shoulders. "Because you have no other choice, Your Highness. This is life or death."

He shook his head, trying to clear it. This was absolutely absurd. "And how exactly do you plan on stopping her?"

"Well, first," said the Thorne guy, "we're going to kidnap you. With your knowledge, of course. We're only telling you because it'll make it easier for us if you're willing to help."

"What about my brother?"

Red shrugged. "Don't worry about him."

"Oh no. I'm not agreeing to this and leaving Kai behind."

Emerald Eyes sighed. "That would complicate things."

"Aren't things already a bit complicated? What would be the point in only kidnapping _one _of us?"

"It'll push the wedding back at least a day," said Thorne. "And that's all the extra time we need."

He gaped at them. "Extra time? For what?!"

"To overthrow Queen Levana, Your Highness."


	10. Chapter 10: Interruptions

Hikaru paced the length of his office like maybe the repetitious action might give him better alternatives, or perhaps maybe make him less guilty about what he had to do.

He had to be kidnapped and postpone the wedding.

Fine.

He had to force Kai to take his place for the time being.

Fine.

He had to be as inconspicuous about it as possible.

Fine.

He had to keep a secret it from his brother.

Fine - or rather, not fine at all.

Kai would _hate _him, and there was absolutely no way to avoid that. He knew his brother had feelings for the wedding planner, but she wouldn't be in danger. She was just an ordinary girl, and not really all _that _pretty, so there was really no reason to worry that she would be in danger.

And there was also the fact that Kai was already suspicious, because Hikaru was an _idiot, _and he never let himself forget that. His office probably wasn't the best thing to conduct his top-secret business, considering that even clearing the corridor didn't mean someone wouldn't show up unannounced. Even if they didn't come into his office, they could still hear through the door.

Just like Kai had.

Stars, he'd really messed up on that one.

Well, it hadn't exactly been his fault.

But his mind still went back to that wedding planner. He knew well enough that Levana didn't believe in the notion of love and monogamy, not since the death of her husband – if one could really call him that, considering it was obvious that the whole arrangement was completely nonconsensual on his part – and so she perhaps wouldn't mind the girl.

That was comforting.

It was only a temporary arrangement, anyway.

With that, Hikaru pushed the thought into the recesses of his mind and went over everything in his head again.

The wedding was in six days. The plans would be executed at the stroke of 00:00 tonight. He just had to keep his nerves from eating him alive first.

He assessed the office. It was just as his father had left it less than a month ago. Picture frames on the walls and the desk alternated between photos of the family that was now nearly nonexistent. All of them together when their mother was still alive, Kai and Hikaru as kids playing in the palace gardens, their parents at the wedding and their mother's coronation as Empress, the last photo they'd taken as a family before Letumosis hit.

It was an advanced form of Tuberculosis, a bacterial infection that affected the mid-Second Era. They hadn't seen any illness that they couldn't treat since before the Fourth World War, and it hit quick, wiping out millions before they could come up with the antidote – and they had, just after the Emperor succumbed to it himself.

It was a mistake in a lab, someone who had not gone through the proper storing procedures was now long-dead from the disease, taking millions with him. It wasn't his fault that it had mutated so quickly, but it should have never had the chance to in the first place.

Hikaru's legs were growing sore from pacing so much. He'd been at it for at least an hour and a half, but his mind was still going a thousand miles an hour.

The kidnapping would go through. Their plans were solid. Kai would absolutely detest him. He wasn't so sure about anything else.

* * *

><p>23:50. Hikaru poked his head out of his office and told the guard that he was dismissed, and that he won't have to worry about a replacement. It was late, there were plenty of cameras, and he was in the middle of filling out a report. He would likely be in his office all night. The guard left without question, as expected.<p>

23:52. Hikaru stared at the changing family photos on the wall, his heart in his stomach, his mind wandering to his brother, who was probably fast asleep by now. He wanted to comm him, tell him he was sorry ahead of time, but that would ruin everything. Anything would be suspicious at this point.

23:55. He listened for the click of the lock on his door–a sign that the hacker girl had broken through palace security. They'd likely taken the footage from the last five minutes and put it on a loop by now. He paced his office. Always pacing, always anxious.

23:58. The exhaustion was starting to weigh on him. Maybe he could sleep after he arrived at their station, even just for an hour or two. He yawned and walked to his desk. The fabric of the chair's cushion had finally let go of his father's scent. His chest ached.

00:00. The rhythmic knock echoed in his office, though it had been nearly imperceptible. As casually as he could, Hikaru made his way to the door, and slowly pulled it open. The man–Thorne, maybe?–tipped his head in greeting.

"Sorry about this," he muttered, placing a cloth over Hikaru's mouth. Hikaru vaguely felt his body being caught just before everything went black.

* * *

><p>He stretched his arms over his head as he walked into the breakfast room, expecting Hikaru to be there. When he wasn't, Kai glanced at a servant. "Did Hikaru come in already?"<p>

The servant lifted her eyes from the ground. "His Majesty has not come to breakfast yet," she said, settling her gaze back on the carpet.

Kai took a seat and began to eat from the plate of fruit that had been placed before him, comming his brother. He tried not to worry–Hikaru hadn't slept much lately, and perhaps that's where he was.

He sent a comm to Cinder, smiling as he tapped it out.

_Come over later? :)_

It hardly took any time for her to reply.

_Again? You're so demanding._

Kai chuckled to himself. _Pretty please?_

_I'll see you at 15:15_.

His evening plans all but set, he started to wonder about Hikaru again.

Still having received no comm from him, Kai finished his breakfast and went to his brother's office. The morning guard indicated that he hadn't seen Hikaru enter or leave, but that he had told the night guard that he likely wouldn't be returning to his room that night, and so he expected that Hikaru was still in there.

Kai stitched his eyebrows together, suddenly suspicious, and then swiped his wrist over the scanner. The door opened, but the office was empty.

"Hikaru?" He called out. His own voice echoed off of the walls and he looked around. There was no note, no sign of him having been there, no sign that he had left. Anxiety bubbling in his stomach, Kai left the office.

He found Torin next. "Hey, have you seen Hikaru?"

Torin regarded the prince with an ever-calm expression. "I haven't. Is he in his office?"

"No," Kai replied, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Has anyone said anything about him?"

Torin waved it off. "I haven't heard anything. I'm sure it's nothing, Your Highness. He's probably getting some fresh air. Your father used to need it all of the time."

Kai sighed. Hikaru had been acting weird lately. Maybe he was in the gardens, or maybe he'd utilized their old disguising tactics to go visit the market. That had always been a favorite stress release of theirs.

He decided to head back to his office and try not to think about it. Besides, he had to kill seven hours until Cinder showed up. That was something to look forward to.

* * *

><p>His head was thick with a drowsy fog when he finally regained consciousness.<p>

Hikaru dragged himself up and buried his face in his hands, groaning through the exhaustion.

"He rises," said a voice from the door… thing. Hikaru didn't know what to call it. He was sleeping in a creaky cot in a small alcove of an underground cave. There was a curtain that was pushed aside, a small bit of light filtering in behind the form in the opening.

"Which one are you?" Hikaru asked.

The man flipped a switch and it dimly lit the room around him. Brown hair and blue eyes. Thorne, maybe? "Carswell Thorne. Most just call me Thorne. Or Captain. Or Captain Thorne."

"Thorne," Hikaru muttered.

"It's a pleasure, Your Magesticness," said Thorne. "Sorry about the headache I'm sure you have."

He slid off of the bed and used the wall to keep himself upright, still slightly dizzy. "It's fine. Has there been any news yet?"

"Nah, Cress has been keeping up on everything. She said she saw your brother running around the palace this morning, probably looking for you, but nothing came of it."

"Stars, I bet he's worried sick."

"Well, his girlfriend stopped by not too long ago. I'm sure he's doing just fine."

Hikaru returned Thorne's smirk with a scowl. Thorne put his hands up defensively. "Well, uh, anyway, if you're hungry, Scarlet brought some food."

Hikaru sighed and rubbed absent-mindedly at the bandage on his left wrist, where they'd cut out one of two of his ID chips. "I'm starving."

"That's what I thought."

* * *

><p>She found herself in his office again, hardly thirty minutes since the end of her last appointment. He perched himself on the edge of his desk and drew her into his arms, pulling her close. Her heart thumped in her chest as she strung her arms around his neck.<p>

"I didn't think you were going to come."

"I told you I would."

"But you were late."

She grinned. "Iko yelled at me until I told her I would come."

"Oh."

"Don't take it like that." She lifted a hand to run it through his hair. "I wanted to, but the rumors are just-"

"-I know," he muttered. "But what does it matter, Cinder? Honestly?"

She tucked her head under his chin. "I'm not used to the attention, Kai. I'm not used to being noticed. And the _stares_. Stars, those are the worst. I think I actually liked being a nobody."

He held her tighter and goose bumps flooded her skin. She loved him being this close, holding her like that. Like she might float away otherwise. Like he didn't want to let her go.

It was so nice, this whole "being wanted" thing.

"I can give you your own personal guard, you know. We can have someone with you at all times."

"That sounds really creepy and probably unnecessary."

He grunted. "You clearly haven't met any of my fangirls yet."

She choked out a laugh. "I have, remember?"

"Right," he said, chuckling. "Sorry about your window, by the way."

"I'm just glad that the guys you sent came and fixed it immediately." She pulled her head away and looked at him.

There was a moment of silence between them before he wet his lips. "You look stunning today."

She quirked an eyebrow. "You know, you're going to run out of adjectives one of these days."

"I'll come up with more. I'll combine them, if I have to." He hummed for a second, one of his eyes squinting in concentration as he stared just over the top of her head. "How about… celime?"

She glared at him. "What?"

"It's a mix of celestial and sublime! No? No good?"

"Kai, that's _terrible_. It sounds like some sort of bacteria. Or something you find growing on a bathroom wall. Probably both."

"That bad, huh?"

She smirked, pushing herself onto her toes and kissing him. "Just d-don't let it discourage you," she said, laughing anxiously.

He grinned. "I wasn't planning on it." Then, he captured her lips again, kissing her hard. He pulled away. "So, you'll be coming to the wedding with me, right?"

"I'll _be _at the wedding. But I'm not sure if we should steal Hikaru's thunder by making our relationship public." Cinder was trying so hard to not show him that the very prospect of them going public at all made her nerves crawl and her wires charge and, just, _no, no, no, no_. It was more likely that she was far too obvious about it.

Kai laughed. "It was a joke, Cinder. It's fine."

He kissed her again. She didn't think he would ever kiss her enough.

Then, the door flew open.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have an emergency."

Kai dropped his hands and Cinder jumped away. "Torin? How did you get in here? The door was locked!"

Torin regained his composure, though his voice was still full of panic. "Emergency override codes."

Kai's eyes widened. "What? What is it?"

"It's Hikaru." A beat. "He's gone."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Who's on Spring Break? Meeeeeeee! My birthday is in a week and a day! I look forward to all that being a 21-year-old in the US means. I hope to get a decent amount of writing done! I'm pretty far ahead on this fic (I just finished chapter 15!, it just kind of fell out onto the page... nice)... for now... I do have some homework to attend to this week. But I will be doing a lot of writing! Maybe!


	11. Chapter 11: Consequential Abandonment

Kai nearly slid down the front of his desk onto the floor. He straightened himself up and shook the cobwebbed confusion from his head.

"What about Hikaru?"

"He's gone," Torin repeated.

"What do you mean, 'he's gone'?" Kai was trying to hide his shaking now.

He glanced over at Cinder, who looked as though she had completely turned inward. Her shoulders were hunched, her hands limp at her sides–like she didn't even have the strength to wrap them around herself, her chest heaving. This was bad. This was so, very bad.

Torin grimaced. "Security footage caught nothing suspicious. He never left his office last night. He sent the guard home, and he never left. But he isn't there, so it is clear that our footage was tampered with."

Kai measured his breath. "We have to tell Levana."

Cinder let out a small whimper. He'd nearly forgotten she was there. His head was so foggy, anxiety bubbling in his gut. What had Hikaru done? Was this all part of the plan?

He met Torin's gaze, his hand searching for Cinder's. He found it, squeezed it, and then spoke. "Have you tracked his ID? Either of them?"

"We found them both on his desk," said Torin.

He felt Cinder's hand go limp again. She was trembling. He met her eyes. "What does this mean?" she asked, her voice small and sad and so, so broken.

"I don't know."

Torin cleared his throat. "Miss Linh, you should go. You've already found out too much."

"She stays," said Kai. His voice was still weak, tremulous.

"I shouldn't." She tried to retract her hand, but he only held tighter.

"Cinder, please."

"I-" Her chin fell. "Okay."

Kai tugged her into his side. He needed to be near her, to feel grounded.

"Miss Linh cannot be present when we make this information known to Queen Levana." Torin's voice made him sound like he was dead. It was emotionless. Inhuman.

Kai squeezed her hand again. "Of-of course. I just... let me think about this for a minute."

Torin nodded. "I'll leave you alone for a moment. I will call the council members and we will return in ten minutes. After we speak with Queen Levana, the rest of the world leaders will follow." His eyes flicked to Cinder for a brief moment before landing on Kai again. "We will work this out, Your Highness."

Torin turned on his heel and left.

Kai fell against his desk, his free hand going to his eyes. "I knew he was up to something. I knew he was, and I completely disregarded it! I'm so _stupid_."

Cinder flinched. "You're not worried about him?"

"He was planning something, Cinder."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard him talking to someone one day, but there was no one in his office when I went in there. He said he was worried you were working for Levana. He said–stars, I don't know, Cinder. I can't tell them this. If someone else finds out that he faked his own kidnapping to get out of the alliance, he'll be abdicated. But I suppose I have to take the throne either way."

She worked her jaw. "The marriage alliance."

"This is so bad."

He thought he might cry. That wasn't very diplomatic of him.

He looked back up at Cinder. Her eyes were down, her left hand pressing against her temple. _I can't cry_, she'd told him. _But the effort gives me a headache_. He tugged on her arm and she offered no resistance. It was like pulling on an unlatched door. She fell into his arms and he held her tight.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

She didn't hug him back. "Nothing ever is." He listened to her take a shuddering breath. "We were ridiculous to think this would ever work."

He didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He would be emperor soon, and that seemed to be the only thing that was certain. His brother abandoned him. Abandoned their country.

Kai knew it wasn't fair for Hikaru to be forced into marrying Levana. He could very well have been in his shoes.

And he supposed that now he was. And at the moment, he _hated _Hikaru. For being so selfish. For not even so much as letting Kai know what was going on. He was his twin_, _for Luna's sake.

Now, he was here, comforting his girlfriend. He would have to forget her. They'd have to forget each other, because it was likely he would be marrying Levana. There was no getting out of it. Levana didn't care, not at all.

He tried not to think about it. He hoped she wasn't, either.

* * *

><p>All Cinder could think about was Kai.<p>

Perfect, handsome, loving Kai.

Her boyfriend. The prince.

Who was about to be stripped of both of those titles. He would marry Levana, he would become the emperor.

Her chest ached. Literally ached. It made her think of when Peony died. The emptiness she felt afterwards. The complete and total brokenness.

It was back. Just as soon as she was starting to get over it.

He held her close and she could smell his soap. It was such a familiar scent now–it still clung to the fabric of her couch. She supposed that it was good that it would eventually disappear. If it stayed around, it would've made everything all the worse.

"I'm so sorry, Cinder," he said again. In her head, the clock said they only had three more minutes until the cabinet members would arrive and she would have to leave.

She pulled herself from his arms and looked at him, her hands braced on his shoulders. He looked like he was on the verge of tears and she offered him a small, honest smile. "Maybe it's best if we pretend none of this ever happened, you know? Move on. There's not much else we can do."

"Cinder-" He enveloped her in his arms again. "It isn't that easy. It's never been that easy."

She sighed, finally wrapping her arms around him. "I know."

She knew he felt weak. He didn't have much more time to be weak, so she held him until the clock in her head started counting down to the seconds.

"They'll be here soon," she said. "I can… I can wait. Until you're done with everything in here. I can."

"It may take a while."

She brushed her fingers along his cheek. "I know."

He gave her another kiss. Long and slow and hungry. Cinder broke away when she heard treads.

"Your Highness, Konn Torin is here with the members of your cabinet. Would you like me to cancel your dinner plans for this evening?" The android reminded Cinder of how Iko looked before she bought the escort body. Small, white, round. Outdated.

"Yes. Thank you, Nainsi." Kai's voice had found its strength again. "Please take Cinder to my personal quarters, if you will."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Cinder made to follow Nainsi, turning just slightly to wave at Kai. He waved back, a pathetic lift of his hand and tilt of his fingers.

She was so stupid.

* * *

><p>"You are otherworldly, My Queen," said the seamstress, analyzing her work.<p>

Levana pulled her hair over her shoulders and stared into the mirror. "I suppose that if this what I must wear, it will have to do."

The seamstress's eyes widened with fear. "Are you unhappy with it, Your Majesty?"

"Your work is fine. It's this fabric, and the color. Red and gold are not becoming of me." She pursed her lips. "But as I said. It will have to do. That will be all."

The seamstress left, relieved, and Levana moved to get changed when there was a beep from the door.

"I'm busy!" she barked.

The speaker announced Thaumaturge Sybil's request for entrance.

Levana took a deep breath. If it was Sybil, then it must be important. "Fine. You may enter."

"Your Majesty." Sybil had barely made it through the door before she started to apologize. "I know this is very untimely, but Prince Kaito has requested an immediate conference with you."

Now _that _was interesting.

"On what grounds, may I ask?"

Sybil kept her eyes trained on the ground. "He did not say."

"Set up the netscreen in my office. I will be in there momentarily."

When Queen Levana settled into her plush office chair, she was not sure what to expect.

She sat straight up, her hands folded on her desk, a smile on her lips. "Prince Kaito, what a surprise! May I ask what's brought you before me today?"

The prince appeared disgruntled and unsettled and it set her nerves on edge. "It appears that… it appears that Prince Hikaru has been kidnapped, Your Majesty."

She laughed. It sounded strangled–like the air had run out too soon. "I beg your pardon? How did this happen? Are you sure he did not just run away?"

Kai sat up a little straighter. "It-it seems the security footage was tampered with, and Prince Hikaru would not have been able to do that himself. At this time, we have no reason to believe he was conspiring with another person, or a group, in order to escape. This has all the makings of a kidnapping."

Levana tilted her head to the side. "What would prompt a kidnapping so close to the wedding? I am assuming that you know we will go through with it." She narrowed her eyes. "No matter what."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"So, you are prepared to take his place?" she asked.

"Yes."

Levana grinned. It was always nice to have a back-up plan, after all. "Wonderful."

She cut off the connection.

* * *

><p>Cinder didn't realize that she'd fallen asleep until she heard the door latch. She sat up quickly on the couch and rubbed her eyes, groaning.<p>

"Hey, sorry I woke you." His voice was sad, and the reasons why came back to her through the haze in her brain.

He took a seat on the settee in front of the couch and she reached out, resting a hand on his knee. Her words were slow, careful. "It's over for us, isn't it?"

Kai buried his face in his hands. He looked like he wanted to cry. All he did was nod.

She let her hand fall again. "I thought as much."

He looked up at her. "I'm sorry, Cinder."

"It's not your fault." It wasn't either of their faults.

All she wanted was to crawl into his arms and disappear. Just like his brother had.

Maybe if Kai lost the throne, they could move to some small country and live there forever. It was a nice thought. Unrealistic, but nice.

"I hate this," he said.

"I guess I won't be your date to the wedding."

His laugh was half-hearted. She was surprised he'd even laughed at all. "I guess not."

He moved to sit next to her and pulled her onto his lap. She offered no resistance, but she did not lean into him. "I should leave, Kai. I figured I'd stay so we could have a proper goodbye but I–I shouldn't stay. It'll just make leaving harder."

"Levana's coming tomorrow," he told her. "She'll be here sometime in the afternoon. Stay with me until then. Please, Cinder."

She stopped resisting him and fell against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Okay. I'll clear my schedule. But… but after tomorrow, I will see you at the wedding and then that's it. We can't pursue this anymore, Kai. Whatever 'this' is."

He held her tighter. "I don't know why not. It's not like she'll live here. Not all of the time, at least. She'll never have to know."

"Kai."

"I'm sorry, Cinder. I just-I'm lost here."

She moved to kiss his jaw. "I know."

He sighed. "I'm so sorry, Cinder."

* * *

><p>Cinder awoke early in the morning. She was still tangled in Kai's arms and bed sheets, his steady breath on her neck.<p>

She shut her eyes again and tried to find some peace in her own head. This was the last time they'd ever be allowed like this–tangled together in silk, his arms wrapped protectively around her, their heartbeats synchronized.

Life was so, so unfair. But this was what she signed up for, wasn't it? A life of uncertainty and, sure enough, heart break.

She wished for sleep again before she felt him shifting behind her. He let out a small groan and pulled her against him.

"Morning." His breath tickled her ear and her heart leaped. His memory hadn't had time to come back just yet.

"Good morning," she whispered.

He kissed her ear, and then the spot right below it, and then her jaw, working his way down until he was propped up on an elbow.

"Kai," she muttered. "Kai, stop."

He sighed and rolled away from her, pulling the sheets away from his legs and freeing himself from them.

Cinder shifted out of the bed and stood, grabbing her gloves off of the night stand, pulling them on. "Do you know when she'll be here exactly?"

She could feel him staring at her back as she pulled her shirt on over her tank top. "No. Just that it'll be sometime this afternoon."

She sat back on the bed, still facing away from him, her eyes on the sunlight that stretched across the beige carpet, creating shadows beyond the curtains.

Kai slid over and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in the curve of her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Cinder."

"Stop apologizing, Kai. It isn't your fault."

He tightened his grip and she squeezed her eyes shut. All she wanted to do was go home, go back to her apartment and work on forgetting him. Maybe she could finish up her last few weddings and then move away. That, perhaps, was the best way to go about it.

He wouldn't even have to know.

* * *

><p>He checked the comm that'd come to his portscreen. "Her ship just landed." He looked up at her and she wrapped her arms around herself.<p>

"I should go. I-I shouldn't be here when Levana comes to meet her new future husband." Kai shut his eyes against the pain in hers.

He sat back against the edge of his desk and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes until he saw stars. "It could've worked if Hikaru didn't abandon the country. It would've worked if my brother wasn't so selfish."

Cinder stepped away from him. "It doesn't matter. I need to go."

"Cinder, wait," said Kai. "Please don't leave."

"I can't stay, Kai. You know I can't stay. I've already been here far too long. Levana will be here soon and I-I can't face the woman that's taking you from me. That's taking everything from us."

He reached across the space between them and wrapped his fingers gently around her upper arms, pulling her towards him. Just one kiss, and she could go. He pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers.

She tensed, but didn't resist, her hands going to his face. The fabric of her silk gloves was smooth and soothing against his skin. He wanted to hold her there forever, to keep her in his arms and never let go.

The speaker in his desk chimed. "Her Royal Highness, Lunar Queen Levana requesting en-" the door was pushed open before Kai and Cinder had time to react.

Cinder snapped around and side-stepped, her hands clasped against her chest.

Levana stood there with her head thaumaturge, Sybil Mira, and two guards–one blonde, one red-haired. The queen was all poise as she tittered. "Oh dear. It appears I've walked in on my fiancé with another woman!" She listed her head, pursing her lips. "Oh, Miss Linh. I would have expected better of you."

Cinder tugged on one of her gloves. "I-in my defense, Your Majesty, we were not expecting this turn of events, either."

"Oh, never mind that," said Levana.

Kai looked at her. "That's all, Cinder." He dropped his gaze to the floor. "Goodbye."

Cinder said nothing. Kai could feel his heart breaking in his chest as she turned to leave.

"No," said Levana. "Jacin, grab her."

The blonde guard was over to Cinder before she could even cry out, her arms twisted behind her back.

"Leave her out of this, Levana," Kai growled, panic rising in his gut. "She's just leaving. Whatever we had between us is over now. Let her go."

"Oh, that's cute," Levana cooed. "Unfortunately, I've heard rumor that your precious girlfriend is a cyborg, am I right? I would have let anyone else go. But a cyborg? Honestly, Kaito. What were you thinking?"

Kai's fists clenched and unclenched, but he knew he could do nothing about it. "She has done nothing wrong here, Levana. Let her go."

The evil smile that greeted him when his eyes shifted away from Cinder startled him. "Let her go? I can't do that. This girl has offended me. _You _have offended me, young prince." She turned her head. "Jacin, take her to my ship. She will be punished accordingly."

"She hasn't done anything worth punishing!"

"Details, Prince Kaito. The existence of Cyborgs is offensive for humans and Lunars alike. This girl is an abomination and I myself am ashamed to be in her presence. There is no better way to prove that you are a ruler worthy of being feared than by following through on your punishments."

"That's not how it works here on Earth, Levana. You can't do that!" Kai protested, tears forming in his eyes. His father would berate him for being so weak, but what could he do? He was powerless against Levana, even in his own country.

"I can, Your Highness, and I am."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>What? They fell in a tangle of bedsheets together! It's what every Kaider shipper has always wanted! Um... uh... anywayyyyyy... I'm turning 21 tomorrow! B) We're going to Chicago. I'm so excited. I digress. I hope you guys at least moderately enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading! I appreciate every single one of you!


End file.
